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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Karen McVeigh

Video reveals devastation from scallop dredging on ‘protected’ Scottish seabed

A video still showing deep furrows on a barren seabed
A video still showing furrows left by scallop dredgers, which can legally trawl around the Small Isles MPA. Photograph: Courtesy of Open Seas

New underwater footage taken by environmental campaigners in Scotland has revealed severe damage to marine life and habitats wreaked by scallop dredgers in “marine protected areas” (MPAs).

The Scottish government designated the seabed around the islands of Canna and Rum, on Scotland’s west coast, as the Small Isles MPA in 2014, to conserve Britain’s only colony of rare fan mussels and other features. The islands host a large breeding colony of black guillemots.

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