Why Scottish seabeds need more protection

Last year, I had the pleasure of being joined on the Our Ocean Podcast by Ailsa Mclellan, a marine scientist and ocean campaigner living in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. She currently works for the charity Seawilding, restoring native oysters to Loch Broom.

One of the elements of marine conservation that Ailsa is most passionate about is protecting our seabeds – which are more diverse and beautiful than many people imagine. While Ailsa now focuses on helping restore native oyster beds, her years working in the worlds of marine science and ocean campaigning have given her a better idea than most of what lies at the bottom of our oceans and how important those habitats are for all of us. 

I asked her why we need to focus on protecting our seabeds from destructive fishing practices and other threats.

 

“If you think about the ground on land, there has to be growth and health for there to be other creatures and the seabed is exactly the same. In Scotland, the seabed is covered in really beautiful, three-dimensional, rich habitats – if it’s left alone. And a lot of these habitats are carbon sinks. 

“Our marine mud is Scotland’s greatest carbon sink, but all of our blue carbon sinks – which include the kelp, the mud, the saltmarshes – outweigh our terrestrial carbon sinks like forests and peat. So the seabed is not only beautiful and important for biodiversity, it’s absolutely essential that we protect it and prevent damage if we want to combat climate change,” Ailsa explained. 

But it’s not just that these habitats are carbon sinks, they are also biodiverse and that is important for more reasons than simply capturing carbon.

“The more biodiverse a community is, the more resilient it is to change. So, as we face climate change – which is measurable now and our waters are warming – we need our environment to be as biodiverse as possible so that it’s got the capacity to adapt. But at the moment, it just doesn’t have the biodiversity that it could have. So we have to build back that ecosystem if we want to enable it to adapt to climate change.” 

Ailsa is confident that Scotland’s seabeds would recover if they were protected from trawling and dredging – and that this would benefit everyone. 

 

But what can you, as an individual, do to help improve the situation for our seabeds? Here’s Ailsa’s advice:

“Vote with your wallet.”
“Think about where your food is coming from. It’s tiring and it’s awful, but you have to educate yourself. There is a choice with seafood in Scotland, and often the better choice is more expensive. Make sure you’re not eating anything that’s been caught by impacting seabed habitats.”

This includes dredged scallops and trawled prawns, which are two of the worst options for environmental degradation. The Open Seas website is a great resource to help you make better choices.

“Get involved with local campaigns.”
“Petitions work as a way of recording your displeasure with the status quo, but keep involved with campaigns locally, educate yourself and talk to people about these issues.”

The Our Seas Coalition delivered its petition calling for at least 30% of Scotland’s inshore seabed to be protected from trawling and dredging to MSPs at the Scottish Parliament in June. But it’s not too late to add your name to the signatures that have already been delivered!

“Talk to your MSP.”
“There is definitely value in contacting your MSP (Scottish Member of Parliament). Like any other job, some are more engaged than others, but they are there for you and you vote for them, so they should listen if you’ve got something to say.”

Photo by Gabe Hearnshaw