In August 2019 COAST was one of 45 signatories on open letters to the First Minister and the Environment Climate Change and Land Reform (ECCLR) Committee, seeking urgent action to protect our National waters.
With a recent spate of incidents of illegal and suspected illegal scallop dredging within Scottish west coast Marine Protected Areas, it is clear that the current enforcement regime is ineffective and needs urgent reform; Marine Scotland Compliance need the support of the Scottish Government to be adequately resourced to do their jobs effectively. The organisations backing these open letters are calling for urgent action, specifically calling for enforcement, implementation of the seabed review, vessel tracking and improved legislation to ensure such illegality is effectively deterred.
COAST stand beside the co-signatories of these letters and call for the 3 mile limit to be reinstated.
Letters
- The urgent need to recover our coastal waters. – To First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP
- Continued degradation of the coastal marine environment. – To Environment Climate Change and Land Reform Committee
