How environmentally friendly forms of fishing mean more money and more jobs for local communities

The report’s results are eye-catching: despite landing less fish, fishermen using more sustainable methods generate far greater economic value than those using more damaging approaches.

Despite Argyll creel fishermen landing less than half the volume of seafood compared to trawlers, creeling generates far more value to the economy – £4.66 million gross value added annually, compared to just £3.15m. For scallops, the impact was even more pronounced, with a tonne of hand-dived scallops generating £3,113 gross value added, compared to £849 for dredging.

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Hard cash for communities

Highlighting the importance of low-impact fishing to the Scottish economy, the research also found far more of the revenue generated from sustainable fishing methods stays in local communities. For example, creel boat owners and crews contribute £1.87m in annual local re-spending in Argyll, outperforming the trawling sector by over £600,000 a year. That extra cash supports local shops, services and schools, providing an economic lifeline for Argyll communities.

Yet while creel fishermen and scallop divers play key roles in supporting coastal economies, we also know their future is being put at risk by a failure to protect the areas they rely on from the damage caused by dredging and bottom-trawling.

For anyone unfamiliar with the process, dredging involves dragging several heavy steel bars fitted with a set of spring-loaded, downward-pointing teeth along the seabed, to pull up the scallops living there. As an approach, it can cause lasting damage to the seabed – as we’ve shown in our own research and as seen in documentaries like Ocean with David Attenborough.

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In fact our field-work has shown it can take decades, if not longer, for an ecosystem to recover from being dredged. For example, we’ve repeatedly studied a section of seafloor in a protected area of Wester Ross, which was illegally dredged six years ago. Even now, it has yet to recover.

Clearly, just like any activity, dredging and bottom trawling activities need to be regulated, to ensure that they avoid critical habitats and protect the wider ecosystem. All other marine industries and agriculture on land have to do something similar, so why are these forms of fishing any different?

READ MORE: Why marine protected areas are essential for Scotland’s traditional fishing industry

‘Protected’ areas left unprotected

In fact the Scottish Government promised to do exactly that. That’s why it introduced a system of marine protected areas (MPAs) over a decade ago, with the aim of providing protection for key habitats and species.

Yet while ministers drew up areas designated as needing protection, the actual management measures required to make sure many were kept safe were never introduced. The years that followed were marked by promise after promise, but the government never delivered.

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Finally, in December, they announced the consultation on the protection of MPAs, as well as ‘priority marine features’, would be postponed until after the upcoming election. So the wait goes on, with some of Scotland’s most important habitats left at risk of destruction. And it’s not just ecosystems that are being put in jeopardy.

Low-impact fishermen, like those highlighted in our report, rely on these waters for their livelihoods. Without nursery grounds for fish and crustaceans, numbers drop. That means less fish in the sea, which means lower catches. That means fewer jobs, and it means less money being injected into local communities.

Left without the prospect of a viable future, and with a government either unwilling or unable to act to protect them, these communities – which have played such key roles in writing Scotland’s identity as a nation – begin to hollow out, as young people leave and prospects shrink.

Court ruling against Scottish Government

Again and again Open Seas, environmental groups and fishermen have raised the alarm. In fact Open Seas already took ministers to court over their failings – with the Court of Session ruling in 2024 that the Scottish Government had acted unlawfully in failing to take account of the environment in decisions over fishing licences.

So what needs to happen to help restore fish populations and safeguard the livelihoods of those that rely on them? First and foremost, we need the Scottish Government, and every opposition party, to commit to resolving the coastal crisis in our inshore seas, and kickstart the recovery of healthy and vibrant marine life.

That means banning bottom-trawling and scallop dredging in at least 30 per cent of Scotland’s inshore waters, in order to establish minimum viable protections for vulnerable inshore habitats and increase nursery grounds.

We also need the Scottish Government, along with every opposition party, to support fishing businesses – like those covered in our research – which have a lower environmental impact, support local jobs, and benefit their communities.

All of this needs to be tied together with an understanding from across parliament that, without acting to protect fragile ecosystems, we will fail to maximise the resources that our inshore waters offer.

The alternative is clear: fish populations will continue to decline, yet more fishing jobs will be lost and communities will find themselves hollowed out. We've already seen the mismanagement of this vital public resource lead to this outcome, with parts of the West Coast particularly badly hit.

We can’t wait any longer. Our new research shows the importance of low-impact fishing to Scotland’s economy – but we also know there is huge potential, waiting to be unlocked, if politicians can deliver a vision for vibrant, healthy seas. Doing so means much more than just protecting marine ecosystems. It means more jobs, stronger communities and a better future up and down our coasts.

Phil Taylor is director of Open Seas