The waters off the Welsh coast have become the setting for an increasingly bitter dispute over scallop dredging because the practice could be disturbing the dolphins and seals that frequent the area and also damage or destroy their habitats and breeding sites. The scallop industry is a multi-million-pound business and with shoppers’ demand soaring, the North Western and North Wales Sea Fisheries Committee, which oversees commercial fishing in the scallop-rich Cardigan Bay, is reluctant to enforce any immediate dredging ban. There are currently 28 craft licensed to dredge for the scallop in the bay.

Liz Sandeman comments “Scallop dredging not only damages seabeds but it can also create under water noise for marine life like the bottlenose dolphins that live around the Cardigan Bay area. There are regular sightings of dolphins and seals in the waters stretching from New Quay to Cemmaes Head and until we know what impact the dredging is causing, the concerned area should be closed to such practices. Some parts of the bay are already closed to such dredging including the northern and southern Special Areas of Conservation. The current dredging could possibly be breaking European wildlife-protection legislation.”

Scallop dredging is acknowledged to be one of the most destructive fishing activities practiced in the marine environment, destroying everything in its path. It’s a very heavy piece of fishing gear which drags along the seabed with teeth which dig in to catch the scallops, the dredge is then winched up into the boat and emptied. It's similar to dragging a plough across a field, it turns over the seabed and causes immense amounts of damage. In 2008 scallop dredging was banned in Dorset’s Lyme Bay to safeguard the future of one of Britain’s richest marine environments.

Cardigan Bay's scallop-dredging season, which began in October, ends on May 31.

Images (c) S Hartley