02-07-2025
Green Focus: Arran is a great example of how we can save our seabeds
My family holidays in the 1950s were spent in the far northwest of Scotland, writes Henry Haslam.
There was a pier beside the hotel, and trawlers used to come in to unload their catch of fish.
We didn't give any thought, in those days, to the damage that trawling might do to the seabed.
Perhaps the damage was slight, the ships were small, and the sea floor had plenty of opportunity to recover.
In more recent years, however, the damage done by bottom trawlers and dredgers has been much more serious, as demonstrated in the recent David Attenborough film, Ocean.
Bottom trawling breaks up the seabed, destroying corals and shellfish.
However, marine life can recover remarkably quickly if it is left to thrive.
Some time ago, a group of fishermen on the island of Arran resolved to set up a protection zone.
After many years of planning, a one-square-mile no-take zone was established in 2008.
A larger zone, covering 100 square miles, was set up in 2014, banning bottom trawling and dredging.
The recovery has been remarkable.
Lobsters, crabs, sponges, and scallops have all re-established themselves, and fish stocks are recovering.
The sea floor recovers much more quickly than the land does.
All this was achieved because a few local fishermen got together.
Arran became a model for marine preservation.
That is not all.
After the release of the film, the UK government announced plans to ban bottom trawling in 41 marine protected areas, and a recent international conference in Nice ratified a treaty that aims to protect 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030.
We can see here a good example of the part that can be played by a local community, and by national governments, and by international agreements.
