Wednesday 14 July 2004

"The Jambo incident highlights how devastating a spill of hazardous substances into the fragile marine environment of the West Coast could be. Thousands of ships travel through the Minches every year, many carrying highly toxic cargoes."
Helen McLachlan, Marine Policy Officer, WWF Scotland.

"We shouldn't wait for a major incident before we act to protect the pristine environment of the Minches and the coastal communities that depend upon it for a living,"

The Minches are the straits between the West Coast and the Outer Hebrides and are home to a vast array of marine wildlife including dolphins, whales. seabirds and basking sharks. They are often used as a short cut for tankers sparking calls for the Minches to be awarded Maritime Environment High Risk Area (MEHRA) and Particularly Sensitive Sea Area Status. This would enable international rules and standards to control shipping in the area.

Under the Joint Marine Programme, WWF Scotland and The Scottish Wildlife Trust are campaigning for a Marine Act for Scotland to help manage Scotland's marine environment and the thousands of jobs that are reliant on the seas.

"While Scotland's seas contain some 50 per cent of our wildlife, with around 8, 000 different species, and are home to many internationally important habitats, they are largely unprotected and poorly managed.

"A Marine Act for Scotland would ensure that the current management and legislation is simplified and co-ordinated for the protection of Scotland's seas and coasts. Scotland's marine resources are some of the most rich and biologically diverse in the world and they are vital to the Scottish economy - both important reasons why we need to manage them properly.

"Sensitive and dangerous areas for shipping, such as the Minches should not be treated as short cuts as we are gambling with our unique marine heritage. Instead we should be looking at ensuring they are awarded the highest protection status as well as examining lessons learned in terms of how well equipped we are at dealing with any future incidents. We should be doing everything possible to prevent something on the scale of the Braer disaster in the Shetlands ever happening again,"
Helen McLachlan, Marine Policy Officer, WWF Scotland.

The MV Jambo went aground off the Summer Isles, at the entrance to Loch Broom, at 0515 on 29 June 2003. The German-owned, single hold vessel, built in 1990 was carrying 3,300 tonnes of zinc concentrate from Dublin to Odda in Norway. The chief officer fell asleep while alone on the bridge and was awoken by the impact of the vessel grounding.

"The Minches contain internationally important colonies of seabirds including puffins, kittiwakes and skuas. Marine accidents could have a devastating effect on wildlife tourism, aquaculture, local fisheries and the wider local economy, not to mention Scotland's reputation abroad. The crash of the Jambo was a wake-up-call that has yet to be heeded, as Scotland's unique marine environment does not have the protection it deserves,"
Stuart Hay, Policy Officer, Scottish Wildlife Trust