Sparks fly at illegal harvest of delicacy

Published on Friday 10 June 2011 17:21

Electric shocks for clams split fishermen and marine experts

THEY have been harvested for centuries for their delicate flesh and subtle flavours and have now become a popular ingredient in top-class seafood restaurants.

But the humble Scottish spoot - razor clam - is now at the centre of a row between the government and fishermen over an illegal "electrofishing" technique used to collect them from the seabed.

The contentious practice is used to catch high-valued razor clams and involves crews trailing electrodes along the bottom of the sea to stun the molluscs and force them out of their burrows before they are collected en masse by divers.

Banned under European Union legislation since 1998, critics of the fishing method claim it has potential to kill other marine life caught up in the electric fields as well as being dangerous for the divers themselves. In an attempt to stamp out the method, at least six fishermen have been fined around 6,000 each in the past year after being caught electrofishing by the marine authorities.

However, fishing industry leaders claim there is insufficient evidence to show electrofishing damages marine life and argue that the hazardous practice could be made safer for crews if legalised.

What is not in dispute is the increasing popularity of electrofishing, largely due to what one veteran fisherman described as the "immense" demand for razor clams from foreign markets.

Razor clams - known as "spoots" in reference to the jets of water they produce when burrowing into sand - are considered a delicacy in nations like Japan and South Korea, and are becoming a favoured ingredient of top chefs in Scotland. But a new report published by government scientists at Marine Scotland Science (MSS) has found evidence of a drastic spike in electrofishing activity in recent years. The trade emerged in Scotland during the mid-1990s and until five years ago, modest annual landings of around 100 tonnes were common.

Since then, the industry has expanded sharply throughout Scotland, in the Clyde, the Forth, Moray Firth and Western Isles. Up to 27 vessels are now involved, with 719 tonnes of the fish - valued at 1,754,000 - landed in 2009 alone, although it is thought the figure is even higher due to under-reporting.

Alistair Sinclair, secretary of the Scottish Creelers and Divers Association, estimates that as many as 300 people are involved in electrofishing in Scotland.

He said: "As an association, we've tried to encourage the government to look at legalising electrofishing, as seabed research carried out into it has been positive. I can understand the public perception about electrofishing. People think it's about electrocuting the seabed and it becomes some kind of Frankenstein's monster, but it's not true."

Barry Scholes, vice-president of the Scottish Federation of Sea Anglers, agreed: "There are myths, speculations and rumours continually floating about when it comes to electrofishing, but in terms of its impact on marine life, I haven't seen any positive or negative effect - I've got more of an axe to grind with trawlers. The technique stuns the marine life for a short period, and the molluscs come out of the sand so they are easily gathered."

Scholes, who said he has seen boats electrofishing around 500 yards off the Ayrshire coast, added: "It would make sense that if people are going to do this, it should become legalised and legitimate so it is regulated."

However, the MSS report suggests electrofishing can have harmful effects, including "broken spines and internal bleeding" in fish, and notes that "significant mortalities" have been observed in invertebrate species exposed to intense electrical fields. The study also highlights potential environmental damage caused by the release of pollutants such as copper ions from electrolysis at the electrodes, but reserves the gravest warnings for those who carry out electrofishing.It warns of an "clandestine and ad hoc" approach to electrical fishing, where there is insufficient expertise and poor design and maintenance of equipment, a situation likely to "increase the risk of injury and fatalities".

Other organisations share the concerns of the MSS, including Scottish Natural Heritage. Dr David Donnan, the body's policy and advice manager on fisheries, said: "The illegal fishing for razor clams with electricity has been of concern to SNH as it has the potential to be damaging to both the target stock and other marine wildlife."

Calum Duncan, Scotland programme manager for the Marine Conservation Society, urged consumers and retailers not to buy razor clams they knew to have been electrofished, given that the practice "raises questions" about stocks of the molluscs.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: "Before we could ask the EU to lift the ban we would need concrete scientific evidence that the fishery was environmentally and biologically sound."