By Gregor Young
It has been claimed that 300 large bottom-trawlers and dredgers plough Scotland’s protected seabed on a near daily basis AN ocean conservation group is calling on the Scottish Government to ban bottom-towed fishing gear in the country’s marine protected areas (MPAs). Oceana say all but two of Scotland’s 24 offshore benthic MPAs were damaged by the practice during more than 44,000 fishing hours recorded last year. The group says its analysis also suggests about 300 large bottom-trawlers and dredgers “plough Scotland’s protected seabed on a near daily basis”. Only the deep-sea Hatton-Rockall Basin and Hatton Bank MPAs, far off the west coast, were not bottom-trawled.
Bottom-towed fishing gear should be banned in protected areas, group says
pressandjournal.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from pressandjournal.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Bottom-towed fishing gear should be banned in protected areas, group says
eveningtelegraph.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eveningtelegraph.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Ceres Burn: Sepa identifies source of chemical spill that killed hundreds of fish
© Steve Brown / DCT Media
Thank you for signing up to The Courier daily newsletter
Something went wrong - please try again later. Sign Up
Sepa has identified the source of a chemical spill that killed hundreds of fish in a Fife burn.
The environment regulator has stopped the leak at Ceres Burn and a clean-up operation is still ongoing.
Fish were washed up on rocks.
However, officers cannot guarantee there is no pollution left in the burn so public hazard warnings remain in place.
Sepa warned people to stay away from Ceres Burn this week as it carried out a full-scale investigation.