As part of the Scottish Crown Estate Bill going through the Environment, Climate change and Land Reform Committee a discussion arose around the harvesting of wild kelp. An amendment to the bill was put forward that would restrict harvesting “where such harvesting would inhibit the regrowth of the individual plant.”
The amendment was not about banning the harvesting of kelp, but simply stopping harvesting that destroys the whole plant and prevents it from regrowing.
What this means is that harvesting can still take place except in the instances where the entire plant is destroyed, such as happens when sea beds are dredged.
Kelp beds are a natural and vital part of our coastal landscape, and they provide a habitat for a wide and varied range of species as well as contributing to the great and vast biodiversity of our coastal regions, which we are incredibly fortunate to have here in Scotland. These should not be destroyed by dredging the sea bed to harvest the kelp.
This is why at Stage-2 I voted to support the amendment along with my Labour colleague Claudia Beamish and Green MSP Mark Ruskell. There were six abstentions on the kelp dredging amendment; four from the SNP and two from the Conservatives.
If we are to harvest kelp off our shores then we need truly sustainable methods, ones which do not threaten the existing flourishing underwater environment but instead work alongside it.
However, while the amendment was agreed to by the committee, it will still have to pass Stage-3 when it comes before Parliament before we see it in the Bill.
As such, more work is needing to be done to make the case as to why we need to say no to kelp dredging.
You can see a short video on the subject below from Dive & Sea The Hebrides:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jst3c5g68A[/embedyt]
