September has been a very busy month. Starting with 3 days underwater filming with Emmy award winning photographer Doug Anderson. Most of the filming involved three different underwater habitats, these being Kelp beds, Seagrass Beds & Maerl beds. COAST will use this film to update the short film on the Arran Ferry in cooperation with Destination Arran who are producing a longer video for 2006.

We will also be able to give it to any visiting television new crews to be incorporated in their articles on COAST. We look forward to viewing the end results as we know anything Doug does is of the highest quality.

Doug in a break from filming off Pladda Island             Nancy Nicolson from the BBC interviews Bill

Bill Ballantine visits COAST & talks to the whole Island about New Zealand Marine Reserves.

COAST arranged for world renowned marine scientist Dr Bill Ballantine from New Zealand to come to Arran to talk about his experiences in helping establish No-Take Zones in New Zealand. Bill spent a week on Arran and gave talks to all 7 primary schools & the High School. On the Tuesday evening he gave a talk & PowerPoint presentation to a packed out hall of islanders. There was not one spare seat to be had. The next day he traveled to Edinburgh where LINK had arranged for him to speak to Scottish marine scientists, various NGOs and MSPs on his experiences.

Bill gave COAST lots of advice on how to tackle government & bureaucratic inertia, which we will now use.

 After a week of helping him set up talks, traveling around the Island & listening to him over a glass of wine. I felt his most important message was. –
 I have spent many hours in meeting with so called STAKEHOLDERS Sea anglers. Commercial fishermen, Divers, etc’ I don’t regard them as stakeholder but USERS.

The only STAKEHOLDERS are my grandchildren, your grandchildren & all future generations.

Let’s leave them a marine environment we remember as a child not the mess the sea’s are in today.

BBC Landward came to the Island to cover the visit of Bill Ballantine.

They interviewed Bill, COAST committee members Don. Tom, Howard & Neil McLean & some locals about how they felt about the COAST proposals.

Tom is interviewed by BBC Landward               Dr Bill Ballantine advises COAST chairman Don MacNeish

It is now September, 7 months after the promised meeting to be held on the Island with S.E.E.R.A.D. to discuss the regeneration of marine stock around Arran. We are still waiting.

It is now 4 months since our meeting with Ross Finnie & still no word from the minister!

 COAST membership now stands at 1600. If you would like to become a member you can join on this website.

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