Question reference: S5W-20066
- Asked by: Claudia Beamish, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 20 November 2018
-
Current status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 3 December 2018
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many reports of illegal scallop dredging have been recorded (a) in the last year and (b) since the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 came into force.
Answer
Marine Scotland no longer keeps intelligence reports for longer than three years and the intelligence held is reviewed annually.
Our records show that over the period of the last year there have been 11 reports of activity by scallop dredging vessels in Marine Protected Areas or other areas where fishing is restricted. It is not possible to say in how many of these reports an offence has been committed, nor how many reports relate to the same instance.