Last week saw an absolutely massive victory for all those who have campaigned for years to stop the illegal harassment of whales, dolphins and porpoise in our inshore waters. Environmental Standards Scotland have produced a report confirming not only that fish farm companies have been committing offences by their use of seal screeching devices but that they have been doing so with the knowledge and the tacit approval of Marine Scotland.
Let that sink in.
Marine Scotland, a branch of the civil service in Scotland and the governmental body in sole charge of protecting our marine environment, has been deliberately and cynically turning a blind eye to active criminality by the largely foreign owned companies who use our waters for the industrial production of salmon.
On 25 November 2019 a group of concerned citizens, all members of Coastal Communities Network, met with senior civil servants at Marine Scotland and sat in disbelief as we were lied to. In a nutshell:
(first) the use of a seal screecher (ADD) in Scotland is illegal in the absence of a licence from Marine Scotland
(second) licences cannot be granted, because their use inevitably “harasses or disturbs” protected species such as whales, dolphins or porpoise. (Only where there is no alternative will a licence be granted, e.g. temporary harbour works. Fish farms have other options.)
(third) Marine Scotland responded to this by turning a blind eye to wholesale criminality.
My subsequent letter to the Lord Advocate was passed to the very civil servant who spoke at that meeting!
Huge thanks to David Ainsley and Jean Ainsley at Sealife Adventures, also to Guy Linley-Adams and Coastal Communities Network.
More about this can be found in previous posts on this blog.
The full ESS report can be accessed here:
PS For the curious: Does anyone wonder if there was any pressure put on those civil servants to tell lies by a certain Scottish Government Minister?
