MIKE Russell raises a very important issue as we look forward to independence (Why we need unity in fight to protect our seas, June 19) and the priorities that will be important to Scottish citizens and the economy when he calls for unity of purpose for the “protection and conservation” of our seas.

Scotland is of course a maritime state with a vast potential for sustainable harvesting. I write as a private citizen, not a member of any conservation group but as an interested individual having lived in several coastal locations throughout Scotland.

I am of a similar age, or thereabouts, to Mike. This is important, as I will explain.

In Mike’s paper he refers, on 11 separate occasions, to “scientists” and “science”. It is absolutely correct to value, collect and use scientific evidence. It gives an insight into what is happening today. What it doesn’t give us is an insight into what it was like in the not-too-distant past, prior to the 1980s.

READ MORE: Michael Russell: This is why we need unity in fight to protect our seas

As background, Mike mentions the Scottish Association for Marine Science, founded in the late 19th century. At around that time steam trawlers were invented, and it was quickly realised that their efficiency posed a threat to the inshore shallow spawning grounds, used by all the valuable white fish species like haddock, whiting and cod as well as herring.

As a consequence, a three-mile “no trawl” limit was established around the entire UK coast by our enlightened predecessors, to protect this critical nursery environment. It was a situation that remained until the Tory government of the 1980s deregulated the seas and allowed access to trawling within this critical environment, leaving it to the commercial fishing industry – specifically the trawling and dredging fraternity – to “self-regulate” their activities.

This was undoubtedly the most reckless act of marine vandalism ever undertaken, passed by a UK Government but applied to Scotland, and we are still living with its results, 50 years later.

I know, because my grandparents were crofter fishermen, reliant on that inshore resource as a valuable supplementary food source, fished from small rowing boats using hand lines. The opening up of the three-mile limit cleaned out fishing banks that had been their sustenance for generations.

The original creation of the three-mile limit was implemented, with minimal scientific input, based largely on common sense and observation from those “who know”. While science is an important resource, so too are the testimonials of people who have lived here for generations and know from their lived lives what abundance there once was in the inshore environments around Scotland’s shores. That knowledge is diminishing with every year, and should be a factor in the debate before it is lost forever.

I even know commercial fishermen, now retired, who themselves freely admit that the removal of that three-mile limit was the worst thing that ever happened, while acknowledging their own role but, as one said to me, “if I didn’t trawl it out, another boat would”. That is the reality.

While we can all sit round and hope to come to a mutually agreed position, recognising all participants interests, that in reality is just not possible. It requires governmental leadership, participation, and yes, even diktat.

We are in a post-Brexit world, whether we like it or not, with access out to 200 miles for our fleet. No-one wants to put our trawling fleet out of business – far from it. Re-imposition of the three-mile limit will benefit all, including the trawling community over time. The Scottish Government, in an independent Scotland, needs to provide grant funding to enable skippers to upgrade their boats to fish further out. Close the inshore to trawling and dredging, expand creel fishing and scallop diving. Give nature a chance. Sorry Mike, but this needs political leadership and legislation. Let’s not waste another 50 years “talking about it”.

Reasons to be cheerful? Yes, we know from the no-trawl area in Lamlash Bay that the seabed and marine resource will recover over a period of five to 10 years.

Let’s see the Scottish Government make that commitment to re-introduce a three-mile no-trawl limit around Scotland.

Ian Stewart
Uig, Isle of Skye