Marine Conservation Orders (MCOs) stop dredgers from operating in certain areas to protect marine features restrictions do not apply to divers who catch scallops by hand. Larger vessels generally tow two bars, and scallops are raked out by the teeth and swept into the bag. A heavy net cover is laced to the frame, sides and end of the mat to form a bag. This is the first time that urgent designation powers have been used under the 2010 Marine Act.ĭredgers catch scallops by dragging a heavy bar fitted with a set of spring loaded, downward pointing teeth along the seabed, behind this a mat of steel rings is fitted. The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform subsequently designated the Loch Carron Urgent Nature Conservation MPA to protect flame shell beds. The following map shows these:Īs previously noted, in April 2017, damage was caused to a rare flame shell reef in Loch Carron by a dredger which was operating legally. In addition to the sites designated under the marine Acts, a number of other designations comprise Scotland’s MPA Network. However, in a letter to Patrick Harvie MSP regarding the 2018-19 budget, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution agreed to include an extra £200,000 to accelerate their delivery, leading to formal designation a year earlier than planned. These were not expected to be designated until 2019/2020. There are also 4 outstanding MPAs under consideration: The Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 provide the legislative basis for MPAs, which are designated to ensure the protection of some of Scotland’s most vulnerable species and habitats. The MPA network of 31 nature conservation MPAs and one Demonstration and Research MPA covers approximately 20% of Scotland’s seas. Common skate are non-migratory, take a long time to reach sexual maturity, and spend their entire life in one fairly small area – the Firth of Lorn is one of these. at extremely high risk of extinction in the near future) due to overfishing. This MPA was designated to protect common skate, the largest skate species in the world, and critically endangered (i.e. A recent report by BBC Scotland highlighted evidence of alleged illegal scallop dredging (uncovered by divers from Open Seas) in the Firth of Lorn part of the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura MPA, which has historically been very heavily dredged but was starting to recover.
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