Open Seas

Around Orkney - 08/10/2025 - BBC Sounds News, features and weather for Orkney, including the daily community diary.

Ahead of our #DivedNotDredged event this evening, our Sustainable Seafood Officer, Andrea Ladas, spoke to BBC Orkney about the opportunity to ask MSPs to protect the valuable sustainable fisheries around Scotland.

🎙️ Tune into the episode to hear more: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Fail to plan, plan to fail: Defra, the OEP and the fate of our seas The UK’s environmental watchdog - the Office for Environmental Protection - has raised the alarm over Defra’s failure to take adequate steps to protect the UK marine environment, and not a minut

This OEP investigation could be a turning point for UK seas but whether it leads to change is another question.

Read more in our latest blog ➡️ openseas.org.uk/news/fail-to...

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) recently identified “possible serious failures” in how Defra is managing UK seas 🌊🧵

📊 7 out of 15 targets remain unmet.
⚠️ Another 6 are only “partially met” or “uncertain”.
🐟 Evidence shows reckless harm is continuing & protections are not working.

When scallop dredgers enter MPAs they’re not just damaging habitats, in this case, they’re extracting resources from communities that have worked hard to ensure the MPA is working.

This means local benefits are often lost & the protection status of the MPA is undermined.

📺 Watch the full story ⬇️⛴️

Reef concerns after dredgers filmed in protected seas Scottish government says it's investigating but concerned locals fear enormous damage has been caused

"This incident shows that the dredge industry is out of control and measures to establish a sustainable management system for it are not working."

Read our thoughts on the recent scallop dredging within a Scottish MPA and the full article here: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

6 Mile Trawling Ban Becomes Legal From 1 October 2026, trawling activity by fishing vessels over 18 metres inside the 6 nm zone will be prohibited.

While Ireland has banned big trawlers from its inshore waters, the Scottish Government has failed to give the same protection to small-scale fisheries and vital marine habitats.

Read the full article 📰 theskipper.ie/from-1-octob...

That really puts the timescale into perspective doesn't it 😖

Mackerel fishing should be cut by 70 to prevent stock collapse, scientists say Conservationists have called for urgent action to stop the collapse of stocks in the north-east Atlantic.

“We need Scottish and UK ministers to end overfishing and reform quota allocation so that public fish stocks deliver genuine public benefit and provide genuine security.”

Read the full article on @icesmarine.bsky.social latest mackerel advice here: www.heraldscotland.com/news/nationa...

'We know protection works' - Calum Duncan, convenor of our marine group, spoke to @parliament.scot
Rural Affairs and Islands Committee this morning about fisheries management measures for offshore marine protected areas.

Contains information licensed under the Scottish Parliament Copyright Licence.

Mackerel fishing should be cut by 70% to prevent stock collapse, scientists say Conservationists have called for urgent action to stop the collapse of stocks in the north-east Atlantic.

New advice warns mackerel catches must be cut by 70% to prevent collapse.

We need Scottish & UK ministers to end overfishing and reform quota allocation so public fish stocks deliver genuine public benefit.

🔗 Hear our Director's take here & read the full article: www.standard.co.uk/news/science...

This is an important moment to highlight the many reasons why effective management of MPAs matters:

1️⃣ To safeguard seabed habitats

2️⃣ To support sustainable fisheries

3️⃣ To deliver on Scotland’s environmental commitments

Rural Affairs and Islands Committee | Scottish Parliament TV

This morning our Director, Phil Taylor, is giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee on the proposed protections for Scotland’s offshore Marine Protected Areas 🌊

📺 Watch live NOW: www.scottishparliament.tv/meeting/rura...

Register below to attend and remind politicians of the benefits of rewilding — for nature, communities, climate and the long-term health of Scotland: bit.ly/3GYBRs9

#RewildingNation

With just months to go until the 2026 Scottish elections, now is the time to call on MSPs to prioritise rewilding commitments 📃🌱

That's why at the Scottish Parliament tomorrow,
@scotrewilding.bsky.social are highlighting the barriers to rewilding and how the next government can remove them.

Places like the Forth show how abundance of nature can co-exist in places used by industry & people - providing there's a good plan. Thanks to Graham Simpson MSP for joining us on the water today to explore the link between life & the use of our seas & the need to properly plan how they’re managed.

With our ROV, we're able to document fragile habitats, spot signs of damage, and track recovery (or not) where protections are in place. This kind of evidence is vital to ensure our seas are properly managed and protected.

Watch to the end for a surprise appearance 🐬⬆️

How we sometimes spend our Fridays at Open Seas 🛥️🌊

A big thank you to MSP Miles Briggs for joining us out on the water today, and for taking the time to learn more about how surveying the seabed helps us better understand what’s happening to Scotland's seas.

Fishermen fear ‘zero catch’ cod recommendation could be ‘fleet-ending’ International advisory body calls for no catching of cod in the northern shelf of the North Sea during 2026

@icesmarine.bsky.social advice "illustrates that years of taking too many fish and failing to rein in the ongoing problem of discarding juvenile fish and fish beyond quota have pushed this stock into serious trouble”.

Read our response to the 'zero catch' advice ⬇️
www.insider.co.uk/news/fisherm...

Find out more about our work at openseas.org.uk

We're out on the streets and up on the screens! Our billboards are still live across the UK (in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, London, and Southampton) - have you seen one yet?

Snap a pic and tag us if you do 📸📰🦞

Listen to our Director, Phil Taylor, speak to @stv.news about ending this cod crisis (see above) 📺🗣️⬆️

Some question the science but fisheries management must be evidence-based, not anecdote-led.

So if the industry believes stocks are healthier than the science shows, then cameras recording catches are the way to prove it.

Read the ICES advice here: ices-library.figshare.com/articles/rep...

@icesmarine.bsky.social estimates 18% of all cod caught in 2025 will be discarded at sea, including a huge numbers of juveniles.

That is a colossal waste of future catches & of the ecosystem. Ministers must act now to kickstart recovery using the pre-existing post-Brexit sustainable fishing laws.

It is extremely alarming that the latest scientific advice recommends a complete stop to cod fishing across the Northern Shelf for 2026.

Years of poor management have allowed overfishing and ignored the discarding of juvenile cod which has pushed this stock into crisis 🧵🌊🐟

🌱 1 WEEK TO GO 🌱

Scotland could be the world’s first #RewildingNation — but only if we break down the barriers holding back nature recovery.

Join the call at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday 1st October 👉 bit.ly/3GYBRs9

#RewildScotland

Study tracks UK’s journey from seafood self-sufficiency to dependence on imports More than a century of data reveals how the UK has gone from supplying domestic seafood needs from productive home waters to importing seafood from almost 90 countries. University of Exeter researcher...

Learn more here: news.exeter.ac.uk/faculty-of-e...

And check out our #DivedNotDredged campaign, calling for sustainable, low-impact fishing in Scotland’s inshore waters: openseas.org.uk/dived-not-dr...

Today, 80% of our seafood comes from overseas, often with high carbon costs and impacts on local communities abroad. Diversifying beyond the “big five” and prioritising low-impact, locally caught seafood is key to building a healthier, more resilient food system.

A new study from the @exeter.ac.uk shows how decades of overfishing and mismanagement have flipped the UK’s seafood system upside down – from self-sufficient domestic catches to importing seafood from nearly 90 countries.

What an incredible day at the mass climate lobby🧡

Over 250 people met 28 MSPs and shared their hopes for a fairer, safer, healthier world🌍

Together we showed that support for climate action is impossible to ignore 🙌

Photos: Colin Hattersley

#ActNowChangeForever

Our ROV surveys don’t just reveal healthy marine habitats or fishing damage, they also uncover rather large reminders of the human footprint, like this full-sized container sitting 40+ metres deep.

Healthy seas mean reducing all forms of harm 🗑️🚢 Tomorrow is #WorldCleanupDay