HPMAs: Scottish ministers 'grossly negligent' if dredging and trawling continues to be licensed, say campaigners after court ruling

Open Seas, a charity working to protect the marine environment, sought a judicial review of the decision involving vessels dragging nets along the seabed to gather catches.

The charity argued the move was not taken in accordance with the National Marine Plan (NMP), a document that is supposed to ensure government body Marine Scotland incorporates protection for the marine environment in its decision making.

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On July 7, the Court of Session’s Lord Braid ruled the Scottish Government’s decision was indeed “unlawful” because it had acted “in contravention of the requirements of section 15 of the Marine Scotland Act 2010”.

Marine Scotland routinely changes the licenses it issues to fishermen around the country and foreign vessels fishing in Scottish waters on a weekly basis.

These licenses constrain the amount of fish that can be caught, the places where fishing can take place and also the speed at which vessels are allowed to travel.

It updates its weekly fishing variations every Friday on the Scottish Government website.

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Open Seas said the latest update has made no reference to the Scottish Government’s duty to act in accordance with the NMP, despite the recent court ruling, branding ministers “grossly negligent” in their responsibilities if they continue to license scallop dredging and trawling.

Phil Taylor, director of Open Seas, said: “Business as usual is not an option.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government, responding to campaigner comments, said: “Ministers are considering the court’s decision and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

Mr Taylor added: “The Scottish Government is not a bureaucratic bystander, it is actively licensing scallop dredging in areas that cause harm to the very marine habitats they are duty-bound to protect.

“In the 21st century, when governments around the world acknowledge there is a global biodiversity crisis, it is grossly negligent for the Scottish Government to be licensing damaging in a way that risks further degradation of these habitats.”

The Scottish Government, just last month, decided to scrap its plans to develop Highly Protected Marine Areas which would have seen fishing banned in 10 per cent of Scotland’s waters.

Following an immense backlash from fishing and coastal communities and MSPs, cabinet secretary for Net Zero Mairi McAllan confirmed ministers are “back to the drawing board” and will devise fresh proposals.

It is understood ministers will use the summer months ahead to develop fresh plans that will still include aspects of the ditched proposals.

Mr Taylor said the public debate around HPMAs highlighted "an important distinction between damaging fishing types like bottom-trawling and dredging and lower impact methods such as creeling and hand-diving.”

He added: “It’s time the Scottish Government took urgent action to stop scallop dredging damaging our seabeds and prioritise sustainable fishing.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation declined to comment and said the ongoing discussions over the court ruling on fishing licenses was between Open Seas and the Scottish Government.