• Howard Wood is the chairman of COAST -  Community of Arran Seabed Trust

I have battled and campaigned against the short sightedness of Government fishing policy for 15 years. In September 2008 Scotland got its first, small no take zone in a part of Lamlash Bay off the Isle of Arran. The rest of the Bay was to be designated a Marine Conservation Area but it has not happened yet.

This despite the entire project, Lamlash Bay Community Marine Conservation Area, being trumpeted through the press in January 2008 by Richard Lochhead, SNP Minister, as an excellent joint Community, Government & Fishermen project.

The inertia appears to be due to Mr Lochhead and civil servants worrying about upsetting the trawling & dredging fishing industry.

The Clyde Fishermen’s Association walked away from talks to implement the scheme in January 2009 and thereafter Marine Scotland, the department that overseas the marine environment, has refused to allow the Marine Conservation Area to even appear on the agenda of meetings.

Subsequent meetings have been cancelled or postponed. Procrastination is the name of the game. Continue reading ‘Change of government fishing policy is possible, but very difficult’

Government plans for ‘protection zones’ around the UK coastline are inadequate and won’t halt the dramatic decline of marine species, according to environment groups.

• WWF: New marine proposals are “a drop in the ocean”

 They have warned that much tougher legislation and more ambitious marine protection zones are needed to help preserve sea life.

The EU has ordered member states to set up special zones under its Marine Strategy Directive, in a bid to halt the slide in biodiversity caused by overfishing and industrialisation.

The first UK offshore sites are due to be announced soon but critics say they fall far short of Government promises to set up a network of marine reserves where stocks would be safeguarded against overfishing. Continue reading ‘Environment groups say UK marine protection zone plans are inadequate’