Interview: The protection and recovery of Lamlash Bay

Don: The last time that Howard and I dived the No-Take Zone was about two years ago and seeing the regeneration on the seabed was unbelievable. I kept swimming along and thinking, ‘this is what 13 years of campaigning was about’.

It’s not having a little mark on a chart; it's actually seeing the seabed regenerating. The abundance of life in that area was absolutely wonderful.

Howard: Around 70-80% of it was severely scallop dredged and we knew that from watching from the shore. Some of our early side scan sonar research with Millport Marine Station revealed almost everywhere, except one little corner that was full of live maerl, was dredged away, even showing dredge marks over boulder banks. That was from 2004, so since 2008 onwards, we could dive and now see the seabed slowly sprouting back.

And what I saw, and I know these things now from learning from Seasearch, were all these hydroids and sponges that pre-2003 I thought were ‘fuzzy things on the seabed’ sprouting up on the seabed, and the recovery was fastest closer to the boulder banks. You could see the rapid recovery of the seabed that had been dredged.

The No-Take Zone, although it's incredibly small, has quite a range of habitats: from rocky banks, maerl beds, sandy and muddy areas in the deepest part to gravel. And all these different types of sediment and different habitats started springing back to life.

Howard: The Minister Ross Finnie agreed that the Scottish Government would monitor the No-Take Zone, do the research and it would also be responsible for compliance. The Government research and monitoring lasted approximately 18 months and ever since, COAST has been securing the funding for any research.

COAST doesn't have the power of arrest, but we do just about everything else. We have a lot of volunteers that have done training sessions with Compliance about being a reliable witness and what to do if you see a breach happening. When scallop divers came and took huge quantities of scallops from the No-Take Zone 18 months ago, COAST staff headed out in a boat and asked them ‘to stop’ while we waited for Scotland’s one Compliance vessel to turn up. It didn’t during the two days the incident took place. We then sent letters to Cabinet secretaries and met with senior members from Compliance about the incident.

Don: On land, you have water bailiffs who have an amazing amount of power. They can confiscate the fish that people have poached and have their gear and vehicles get impounded. But in the sea, they can get away with almost anything.

Howard: I think the film's definitely going to help raise the profile of No-Take Zone. Although it doesn't show the recovery in the No-Take Zone (it focussed on the impact of dredging), it should help get more funding, which will allow even more research and monitoring to take place, so we can evidence the benefits and the regeneration that can happen when the sea is left alone.

Howard: It's quite simple really. You have to implement Section 25 of the UK Fisheries Act 2020 to incentivise fishing gear and techniques that have less impact on the environment and cause less damage to habitats. It's not done in Scotland because it was decided that MPAs would be sufficient, but less than half of them are managed.

Howard: As the Lamlash Bay No-Take Zone is small - it’s only 2.67km2 - it’s difficult to determine the increase of the fish in it, although according to research, you get more juvenile fish because it's a better habitat.

In terms of size, there're two species that have been monitored most, which are scallops and lobsters. Regular surveys were taken of the scallops, and because they're so big and so close together, research has found that the No-Take Zone was producing enough spat to seed an area 40 times its size.

When one of the master’s research divers was counting scallops in 2022, they saw one of the lobsters and captured it on camera with a laser measure. Later, they were able to accurately measure it; from its claws to its back, that lobster was nearly a metre long!

Howard: Without the community, 100% it doesn't work. We had one and a half thousand islanders joining us in petitioning the Cabinet Secretary to secure both the Lamlash Bay No-take Zone and then the MPA.

We decided to tackle the issue from the bottom up; to reverse the usual process where locals are just told what’s going to happen. We had to persuade the islanders to care about the issue and to support us. You need to help people understand why they should care about something and that if they care about it, change is achievable.

I gave talks about how the No-Take Zone would be good for tourism - and we were right. The No-Take Zone has put Arran on the map.

Don: They really wanted to hear what it was like for the first time I saw scallop dredging and about the devastation that dredging can cause. They filmed me in my little rowing boat, and in my house. I wasn't sure what would make the final cut, but I’m very happy with what they've done.

Howard: Silverback Films [who produced Ocean] really get it. They wanted to tell the story of how we have potentially fantastic ocean and seas, but we have to rescue them; we have to do something. It's a call to action: something needs to be done, and it needs to be done now before it's all gone. It's for the future generations; for our kids and grandkids.

Don: Now's the time to act. Sometimes you feel that the job is too big, but nothing's too big. You can make things happen. You've got purchasing power to choose not to buy things. You've got political power to write to your MSP or MP or turn up to their surgery. People need to start taking personal responsibility - things can change, but you need to be part of that change. Everybody needs to be part of the change.

Once you’ve seen Ocean and seen what's going on in our seas, you can't unsee or unknow it.

Howard: We need to use our power to demand change. We've got an election [in Scotland] next year and we need to tell politicians that they’ll only get our votes if they ensure there’s proper protection and compliance in these ‘protected’ areas of our seas. We need to think of Marine Protected Areas as ‘economic zones’ - they’re investments in the economy.

Don: But it's also about environmental justice for the animals and the plants that live there, and have lived there for millions of years.

Howard: They don't need to be managed, it's the people that need to be managed. We need to step back and let our marine ecosystems and environments just get on with it, you know?