27,000 say NO to scallop dredging
Over 27,000 people have now signed a petition against plans by the Welsh government to open up Cardigan Bay to destructive scallop dredging.
Large parts of the bay, home to bottlenose dolphins, are protected as ‘Special Areas of Conservation’ under European law, and WDC has been calling on the Welsh government to bring about better management of fishing activity in these sites for many years.
Commercial scallop fishing came to an end in the bay five years ago. The dredging destroys almost everything and smashes the seabed life forms to pieces and quickly reduces a rich ecosystem to a sandy or muddy desert.
WDC’s Mick Green said: “We are delighted so many people support our view that the current proposal to open up protected areas to scallop dredging again is wrong. We hope that the Welsh government will take notice of the high level of opposition to these proposals and withdraw them”.
WDC believe that the consultation contains insufficient information to show how Welsh government can comply with European legislation that says projects like scallop dredging can only go ahead if it can be shown that it does not damage the protected area. No such information has been provided.
Green added: “We hope that the level of support we have had will persuade the Welsh government to properly address our concerns that we have been trying to discuss with them for years with little response”.
The Welsh government are asking the public what they think in a consultation, which closes on 17th Feb.
You can let the Welsh government know what you think here.
