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Sustainable Planet

Big idea · a cause we're championing

Sustainable Seas

Let the fish breed — real protection, an end to dead‑fish discards, and smarter gear.

A cause we're championing — and one you can back. We can't set national fishing policy, but as a Moray coastal charity we can raise the alarm, run the citizen science, seed a local marine reserve, and trial the gear that helps.

Our seas are being emptied faster than they can refill — and much of what's labelled "protected" isn't. This is the case for letting fish breed: real protection for spawning grounds, an end to the dead‑fish discards that keep making headlines, and smarter fishing gear — so there are fish for nature, for fishers, and for the future.

The problem, in plain numbers

  • "Protection" mostly on paper — bottom trawling is still legal in around 90% of the UK's 377 Marine Protected Areas; an estimated 20,000 trawler‑hours inside MPAs in 2024, and over 1.3 million tonnes caught in them since 2020. The government declined a full ban in 2025.
  • Stocks in trouble — mackerel flagged at risk of collapse; and sandeels — the food of seabirds, dolphins and whitefish — over‑fished (Scotland closed its waters to sandeel fishing in 2024).

Where the “safe waters” are — and why paper isn't protection

Scotland's Marine Protected Areas are meant to be havens where sea life can recover. But a line on a map isn't a fence: across most UK MPAs, bottom trawling is still permitted — so the “protection” is too often only on paper.

Scotland's Marine Protected Areas & Marine Conservation Zones (shaded) — the designated “safe waters”. Use the layer control (top‑right) to switch on real fishing activity: vessel density and bottom‑trawl seabed sweeping — and watch it land right across the “safe” zones. Boundaries © JNCC / NatureScot; fishing activity © EMODnet Human Activities, from EU vessel‑tracking (AIS). Note: AIS undercounts small and “dark” (untracked) boats, so the real pressure is heavier than shown.

Perfectly good fish are dumped overboard, dead, because they're the wrong size, wrong species or over‑quota. The UK's "discard ban" (the Landing Obligation) was meant to stop this — but on the government's own admission it "has not been effective." Killing fish for nothing while stocks collapse. The proven fix: enforce it with on‑board cameras (remote electronic monitoring), and cut the wrong catch at source with better gear.

The out‑of‑the‑box idea that already works: light the nets

You can't paint the ocean or herd wild fish by colour — but fish respond to light, and fitting coloured LED lights to fishing gear has cut bycatch dramatically: around 63% overall — ~95% of sharks, skates and rays, ~85% of seabirds, ~40% of turtles — while keeping the target catch and hauling faster. The safe‑versus‑danger signal goes on the gear: the animals we want to spare see the net and steer clear. Our idea: trial LED‑lit gear with Moray Firth inshore fishers and measure the drop in dolphin, porpoise and seabird bycatch.

A model that works — in Scotland

Off Arran, a local charity campaigned for a small No‑Take Zone at Lamlash Bay. Today it has around four times the lobsters and scallops of nearby waters, and a recovering seabed. Community‑led marine recovery is real — a template we could champion for a stretch of the Moray coast, alongside a marine layer for EnviroWatch so people can log ghost gear, suspected illegal trawling, strandings and sightings.

What we're honest about

  • Fishing policy is national — we influence and enable; we don't decide.
  • Small inshore fishers are partners, not villains — this cause is built with them.
  • The LED‑gear numbers are strong but come from other fisheries — a local trial must prove them before we quote them here.
  • No‑take zones take years and real community buy‑in (Lamlash took 13) — worth it, but be realistic.
See it on the map ↗ Sewage in our seas ↗ Get involved ← All big ideas

Sources: Oceana UK / reporting on bottom trawling in UK MPAs (~90% of 377; ~20,000 trawler‑hours in 2024; UK government declined a full ban, Oct 2025); UK Landing Obligation ("discard ban") status (Defra); LED‑illuminated nets ~63% bycatch reduction (95% sharks/skates/rays, 85% seabird, 40% turtle), catch value maintained (Current Biology / NOAA Fisheries); Lamlash Bay No‑Take Zone, community group COAST, ~4× lobster & scallop abundance (University of York); Sandeel (Prohibition of Fishing) (Scotland) Order 2024. Figures indicative, to be re‑verified before wider publication.