
A judge is considering claims the Scottish Government is failing to take into account a policy designed to protect the marine environment when granting licences for a fishing technique campaigners say is wrecking the sea bed.
Lord Braid heard the claims at the Court of Session in Edinburgh after campaign group Open Seas raised a petition for a judicial review involving a recent decision taken by Marine Scotland to vary a scallop fishing licence involving the practice of bottom-trawling it argues put vulnerable habitat at risk.