Howard Wood 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 very 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 announced and 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 Richard Lochhead and his civil servants being worried about upsetting the Mobile (Trawling & Dredging) fishing industry.
The Clyde Fishermen’s Association walked away from talks to implement the whole scheme in January 2009 and thereafter Marine Scotland, the new department that overseas Fisheries, and supposedly the Marine Environment, has refused to allow the Marine Conservation Area to even appear on the Agenda of meetings in March. Subsequent meetings have been cancelled or postponed for months. Procrastination seems to be the name of the game.
So how on earth did we get a No Take Zone in the first place?
It started with a couple of divers seeing species disappear before their eyes in the 1980s. The Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST) was established and with membership growing to 1800, a third of the island’s population and ten times more than all the Clyde fishermen put together: it is truly a community led project. The islanders know that fish stocks in the Clyde have collapsed. Famous international sea angling competitions ceased in the mid ‘90s as there was quite simply no fish left to catch. COAST proposed to the government in 1995 that a small area around the island be closed to all fishing to allow it to naturally regenerate. For over 13 years constant pressure was put on a series of Governments, who believed effort control was the only way to manage fisheries. COAST was told the only way to move forward with their proposals was to get 100% of Clyde fishermen to agree to it!! Time went by and more than 70% of the Clyde fishing fleet either went bust or sold their boats. The Clyde was left with just Prawns and Scallops as commercial catches. Yet ministers still refused to recommend our proposals. The fishing industry don’t like it we were told.
In 2004 COAST petitioned the Scottish Parliament. For 2 years this petition slowly moved forward with the support of politicians from all sides. The petition came before the environment committee who backed the project and instructed the minister to move it forward. As part of the implementation process the government put the Marine reserve out to a full public consultation, the result was overwhelming with 99.4% in favour. So due entirely to people power, the present minister implemented the first part of the proposal. This was an example of how people and politicians can work together to change government policy for the benefit of future generations. If a small island community can make a difference locally surely the nation can do it nationally, make your voice heard.
After spending the greater part of the last 15 years dealing with the Scottish Government there is absolutely no doubt in my opinion that sections of the fishing industry has a disproportionate and unhealthy influence on the Government. Procrastination precludes action. The sea and what it produces is a common resource owned by everyone not just fishermen. Glossy documents and reports mean nothing unless there is change. When the EC proposed sensible measures to try and resurrect the Clyde white fish stocks last December the Scottish Government backed the fishermen to carry on as normal with failed effort control!!
The Scottish Government does not appear to have one environmental brain cell. It has to be understood that you need a healthy Marine Environment before you can have a healthy fishing industry.
At present Governments and the Fishing Industry spend all their time watering down the Marine Bill, with their insistence that fishing is put at the top of the agenda. In other words, more of the same disastrous policies of the last 30 years.
HW