A community group on the North West Highlands coast of Scotland called Sea Change has invited us to help them create the Wester Ross Marine Protected Area.
Act with the Ocean River Institute to protect and recover some important marine species which had been damaged by destructive fishing practices. The MPA area, north of the Isle of Skye, extends from Loch Ewe in the south to Reiff at the northern tip of the Summer Isles. The largest settlement in the region is Ullapool, a town with a population of around 1,300. Warmed by the tail end of the Gulf Stream, New Zealand cabbage trees that grow in the town are easily mistaken for palms.
A campaign by local members of the public, and creel and dive fishermen throughout the west coast has encouraged the Scottish Government to announce draft Marine Conservation Orders which plan to exclude scallop dredging from these highly sensitive areas and limit trawls into areas.
Industry will be pulling hard to block the Cabinet Secretary’s recommendations. We need your voices from over the seas to Scotland. We need your stories and we ask for your support.
Wester Ross is not to be confused with “Westeros,” a fictional continent in HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” However, Actor Rory McCann, known as Sandor “The Hound” Clegane, born and raised in Glasgow, moors his sailboat in the Wester Ross!
