News
A group of 11 divers celebrated World Ocean’s Day 2008 by taking part in a Seasearch survey of the Sound of Mull, organized by the Marine Conservation Society on the 8th and 9th of June. The survey set out to revisit sites first dived in the 1980s and verify records of nationally important marine habitats and species.
Seasearch is a volunteer underwater survey project for recreational divers in the UK, to record observations of marine habitats and the life they support. The information gathered is used to fill in gaps in our knowledge of life beneath the sea and contribute towards its conservation. Seasearch is co-ordinated by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS). The Scottish programme is run by the MCS Scotland Office funded by Scottish Natural Heritage.
The divers visited a variety of sites and recorded rocky reefs, seagrass beds, giant sea pens, fireworks anemone and flame shell nests. Some of these are nationally important, and are part of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and/or the OSPAR list of threatened and declining species. Jane Dodd Marine Project Officer for SNH who joined the trip as a volunteer said “It was great to be able to verify previous records for sea grass and flame shells and find some previously unreported tall sea pens. We were a bit disappointed not to find horse mussel beds though.”
Calum Duncan, MCS Scottish Conservation Manager and Seasearch Scotland co-ordinator who organised the trip said: “A great weekend was had by all the volunteer Seasearch divers on board the MV Silver Swift and I would like to thank all of them and the skipper for their efforts. Once again, Seasearch has demonstrated how volunteer divers make a valuable contribution to helping us map our important marine biodiversity.”
The trip was supported by the SSMEI Sound of Mull project and will help inform the process of developing a marine management plan for the area. Sarah Benfield Project Officer for the Sound of Mull SSMEI said: “The information gathered during this weekend, even the negative results, will be mapped and are a valuable addition to the project and have expanded our knowledge of the area’s habitats and species.”
Call for information on common - or not so common - skate
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has issued a call for information on the common skate, to try and ascertain the distribution of the fish in the waters of Argyll and Highland.
As its name suggests, the common skate, which can grow up to 3m in length and live up to 100 years, was once widely distributed and it was an important part of the inshore commercial fishery. However fishing pressure resulted in the fish being considered commercially extinct in most coastal regions of the UK by the early 1970s. It is now considered threatened.
In addition the fish can get caught up in static and towed fishing gear, as by-catch. They can however recover from the trauma of capture if released quickly, and if the right fishing tackle is used to prevent damage when they are targeted for sport. Tag and recapture programmes, where fishermen tag the fish and then throw them back, can provide invaluable information on the growth and behaviour of the fish.
Such a tag and recapture programme, coordinated by the Glasgow Museum Resource Centre, has gathered information on the distribution of common skate captured by fishermen in the Sound of Mull, Loch Linnhe and the Firth of Lorn since 1975.
Until now there have been no resources available to analyse the data collected.
However this summer, James Thorburn, who is studying for an MSc at Heriot Watt University, will look at the existing dataset and collate any new records sent in. He will also be capturing and tagging common skate with skippers from Oban, Lochaline, Tobermory and Crinan.
James will be based at the offices of Scottish Natural Heritage in Glencruitten Road, Oban. The project is also supported by the Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative for the Sound of Mull and Argyll and Bute Council's Local Biodiversity Project.
James said: "The common skate is a fascinating fish living in deep, dark water and growing to a huge size over a similar lifetime to our own. They are the largest species of skate in Europe and are flat, diamond shaped fishes with a long straight tail and a cartilaginous skeleton like a shark. They are slow growing and only produce about 40 eggs a year, and therefore have a very slow population growth.
"The data provided by the tag and recapture programme in Argyll and Highland offers a unique and exciting opportunity to learn about the behaviour of the species in what may be its final refuge - I can't wait to get started!"
Jane Dodd of SNH added: "A surprising number of tourists visit Argyll and Highland to fish for skate every year and we are very grateful to the skippers for taking care not to damage the fish and for tagging them, so we can collect more information about them. James's project will help us learn more about the common skate and will contribute valuable information on the economic importance of skate fishing to Argyll and Bute, and Highland."
If you have any information to offer to the project, would like to take part in the tag and recapture programme or receive a copy of James's final report, please contact James Thorburn or Jane Dodd at Scottish Natural Heritage in Oban on 01631 567228.
December 2007 - COMMUNITY DROP-IN SESSIONS
Community drop-in sessions will be held in Lochaline and Tobermory to allow the public to come and find out more about the project and feed in any information they have to the project officers.
18th December - Lochaline Village Hall 11:45-15:45
19th December - Council Office, Breadalbane Street, Tobermory 12:00-15:45
21 November 2007 - SOUND OF MULL MANAGEMENT PROJECT HOLDS FIRST MEETING
The first working group meeting for Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI) Sound of Mull project was held on the 14th November in Craignure.
The Sound of Mull project is one of four pilot projects under SSMEI which aim to develop and evaluate different approaches to sustainably managing Scotland’s marine resources. This three year project aims to develop and implement a marine plan for the area with a spatial component and is funded by the Scottish Government, The Crown Estate, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Whelk Leader+ Program.
The working group is the key element in developing and implementing the plan and the use of this locally orientated approach sets the Sound of Mull project apart from the other three SSMEI project areas.
The project officers have spent the past few months meeting with stakeholders on a one to one basis to establish the group. The first meeting of the working group was attended by a wide range of regulators and local stakeholders representing various sectors including fishing, aquaculture, recreation, tourism and the environment.
Feedback from the event was extremely positive and it provided an excellent opportunity for a diverse range of interests to meet and discuss the importance of the Sound of Mull and various issues and opportunities.
The project is keen to engage the wider community in the project and drop-in meetings are planned for Mull and Morvern to allow the public to obtain more details about the project and feed in their opinions and information. Further details of these will be advertised shortly.
Minutes and further information about the project and the group will be available on the Argyll and Bute Council’s website or from the project officers (Sarah Benfield and Gordon Turnbull).
2nd July 2007 - NEW PROJECT OFFICERS FOR SOUND OF MULL
Argyll and Bute Council has employed two project officers to help deliver a pilot project in the Sound of Mull under the Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI).
Sarah Benfield and Gordon Turnbull have been appointed to help take forward the project.
It is one of four pilot projects aimed at developing different approaches to managing Scotland’s marine resources.
Sarah has previously worked in the Marine and Coastal Unit on the marine SAC management plans and Integrated Coastal Zone Management plans for Loch Fyne, whilst Gordon has a fishing background and hails from Mull. He has recently set up a crab processing unit on the island.
This three year pilot project aims to develop a marine spatial plan for the area and is funded by the Scottish Government, The Crown Estate, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Whelk Leader+ Program.
Information will be collated on the areas being used by all marine activities and the project will look at current management practices and interactions between interested groups.
The Sound of Mull project aims to establish a working group made up of local stakeholders and regulators who have an interest in the area and who will steer the project and development of the plan. This community-led approach sets this project apart from the other three pilots and it is hoped that stakeholders will take part in the process in order to influence the outcomes of the project.
Argyll and Bute Council’s spokesperson for Environment and Rural Affairs, Councillor Robert MacIntyre, said: 'I am delighted that two officers with knowledge of the local area have been employed to take this project forward. The community-orientated approach of this project will hopefully produce a sustainable marine plan which is reflective of the social and economic development needs of the marine and coastal interests operating in the area.’
