Salmon farms across Scotland have lodged 210 appeals against controls on lice infestations imposed by the Scottish Government's environment watchdog, prompting outrage from campaigners.

The appeals are the latest and most dramatic move in the multinational salmon industry's long-running campaign to block lice controls being introduced by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) to protect wild fish.

According to Sepa, the sea lice that often plague caged salmon can spread to wild salmon and trout as they swim by, and kill them. This is disputed by salmon farming companies.

Campaigners accused the companies of showing "utter contempt" for regulation, and of having "effectively sabotaged" lice controls. They called on consumers to boycott farmed salmon, and for ministers to halt any growth in the industry.

The salmon industry insisted that Sepa's controls would have an "unacceptable" impact on business and "will not work". It had "no alternative" to making the appeals but regretted having to do so, it said.

The Scottish Government said it was working with Sepa to "consider any implications" of the appeals. Sepa promised to continue to implement sea lice controls "to ensure environmental protection".

After two inquiries by the Scottish Parliament in 2018, the Scottish Government set up a working group involving salmon companies to consider the impact of lice. In 2021, that resulted in ministers appointing Sepa to manage the problem.

Sepa conducted two consultations in 2021 and 2023, and in 2024 started introducing a scheme for controlling lice numbers at individual farms. It was "a risk targeted and evidence-led approach to protecting salmon and sea trout from sea lice from fish farms," Sepa said.

The Ferret revealed in December 2024 that salmon farms were refusing to provide Sepa with information on numbers of fish and lice. We reported earlier that the salmon industry had lobbied ministers against the controls nine times in 2023.

Fish farming companies under fire for information breaches

Now it has emerged that salmon companies have appealed against Sepa's statutory notices seeking to limit lice numbers at nearly every farm in Scotland. In a footnote to a response to a third inquiry by the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Government said on 13 March 2025 that 210 appeals had been received by its Department of Planning and Appeals.

"In the coming weeks officials will work with Sepa to consider any implications for this year's work plan," the government added. There are fears that the number of appeals could significantly delay the introduction of lice controls.

"Attempts to strengthen necessary controls on fish farm sea lice numbers within a new improved Sepa risk assessment framework already look to be effectively sabotaged," said professor Andrew Watterson, an expert on environmental regulation from the University of Stirling.

"It appears the framework is being overloaded, if not destroyed, by the very large number of appeals against Sepa about limits on sea lice numbers from multinational companies."

He added: "As a strategy for gaining public and regulatory confidence in what they do, the industry's welter of appeals against reasonable regulation looks seriously misplaced."

Salmon industry shows 'utter contempt' for Sepa

The campaign group, WildFish, warned that the salmon farming lobby held "far too much power" over ministers and regulators. "The recent legal appeals by the salmon farming industry lay bare the utter contempt this industry shows for MSPs, regulators and anyone who dares try to curb its polluting operations," said the group's Scotland director, Rachel Mulrenan.

"The industry claims to be the best regulated in the world, and yet takes legal action against any attempts to implement regulation," she told The Ferret.

"This latest development must be a wake up call. It's time to step away from farmed salmon - as consumers, and as a nation."

The Green MSP Ariane Burgess described the conditions in Scot...

The Ministry of Defence has been accused of trying to avoid responsibility for cleaning up a military nuclear site on the north coast of Scotland by making it "someone else's problem".

The Ferret can reveal that discussions to transfer ownership of Vulcan, a former submarine reactor testing site next to Dounreay in Caithness, to the UK and Scottish governments' Nuclear Decommissioning Authority are at an advanced stage. The aim is to complete the deal in 2027-28.

But no decision has been taken on who will pay for the site's multi-million pound clean-up, including dismantling and disposing of two defunct, radioactive reactors. Unlike some civil nuclear sites, military sites do not have any funding set aside for decommissioning.

Campaigners are concerned that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) could escape paying for the pollution it has caused at Vulcan and other military sites. They are demanding transparency, and calling on the Scottish Government to block any "backroom transfer" that undermines Scotland's interests.

The 26-strong UK group of nuclear-free local authorities is planning to raise the issue with UK nuclear minister, Lord Hunt, at a meeting on 31 March. It will be urging him to extract a promise from the MoD to fully fund the decommissioning of Vulcan.

The MoD promised to deliver "value for taxpayers' money" on the Vulcan clean-up. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) said financing would be agreed with the UK Government "as part of the usual funding process".

Secrecy over radioactive pollution from nuclear bases

Construction work at Vulcan began in 1957, with one reactor operational from 1965 to 1984, and another from 1987 to 2015. They were used for onshore testing of five different designs of reactors to power the UK nuclear submarine fleet.

In 2012 the second Vulcan reactor suffered a mishap, and started leaking radioactivity into its cooling water. When the leak was disclosed two years later, it triggered a bitter argument between the Scottish and UK governments.

The then first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, accused the Conservative UK defence minister, Philip Hammond, of deception. Hammond had told MPs that there had been "no measurable change in the radiation discharge" from Vulcan.

But an investigation by the Sunday Herald revealed that there had in fact been a tenfold rise in emissions of radioactive gases. Hammond subsequently corrected the official parliamentary record.

Discussions to transfer responsibility for cleaning up the Vulcan Naval Reactor Test Establishment from the MoD to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) began in 2022. Now, reports released by the Scottish Government under freedom of information law have disclosed how much progress has been made.

An update in January 2025 said that arrangements for the transfer were "moving ahead at full speed". They would be put in place "during the financial year 2027-28".

The update added: "The decommissioning of Vulcan and the optimised management of the waste will serve as the exemplar for decommissioning the UK's nuclear submarines."

There are seven defunct nuclear submarines awaiting decommissioning at Rosyth in Fife and a further 15 at Devonport in Plymouth. Other MoD nuclear sites in Scotland that may eventually need to be cleaned up are the Faslane nuclear submarine base and the Coulport nuclear weapons depot on the Clyde near Helensburgh.

The Scottish Government reports, however, have little to say about how the Vulcan clean-up will be paid for. According to another January 2025 update, a paper on "post-transfer funding options" was "being socialised" within the NDA - though it is unclear what this means.

The costs of decommissioning the more recent civil nuclear power stations, including Hunterston B in North Ayrshire and Torness in East Lothian, will be covered by the UK Government's Nuclear Liabilities Fund. It has secured more than £20 billion from private power companies.

But there is no equivalent fund for cleaning up mil...

A grieving family is planning to sue Addiewell - Scotland's only private prison - for negligence after their beloved son and brother died alone in his cell at just 22-years old while waiting for mental health support.

Jordan Burns made multiple suicide attempts in the ten months he spent on remand in Addiewell facing charges of assault.

While inside, Jordan's attempts on his own life included trying to jump from a landing and setting fire to his cell. He had several drug overdoses and had to be resuscitated twice.

In one harrowing incident just weeks before his death he took a razor blade to his throat and called his then-solicitor, threatening to kill himself. He told the lawyer he had been waiting for mental health support for months.

When he died on 10 November 2023 he had not been given medication for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) previously prescribed, or been treated for his mental health issues.

His mother, Janice Burns, says the prison - which is partly owned and run by private company Sodexo - "served a death sentence" on her son. An additional 67 per cent of the private jail is owned by Infrastructure Investment Holdings, an arm of London investment firm, HICL Infrastructure.

With the support of human rights lawyer Aamer Anwar, Janice is planning to take legal action against the prison.

Politicians including the local SNP MSP called for the Scottish Government to investigate the facts surrounding his death and campaigners said the mandatory fatal accident inquiry into Jordan's death, caused by a drug overdose, must be held urgently.

Sodexo said their thoughts were with the family. Lothian and Borders NHS, which provides healthcare in the prison, claimed that it was "committed to ensuring all prisoners have access to timely mental health services".

Last year there were a record 64 deaths in Scottish prisons with the average age of those who died being just 49. Jordan was one of 40 people who died in jail in 2023.

"His cries for help were ignored," Janice said. "They took my boy's life before it had even started. He was sent to Addiewell on remand, was there for almost a year and when he came home to me it was in a box.

"This has happened to too many people. I just want to help change things so no other young boy or family has to go through this."

She asked not to be identified in the picture we took to protect her younger children. But she wanted to share the pictures of Jordan that fill her home - a beaming little boy in his over-sized, first school uniform, a more pensive young man hugging the family dog. In one of his mother's favourites his arm is around his youngest brother, still just six.

Burns admits her son was no angel and had troubled teenage years which led to a criminal record. "But he was loving and funny and smart", she told us and adored by his siblings and friends.

Results from the post mortem concluded he died of a drug overdose but it cannot answer Janice's question about her son's intentions that night. She is certain of two things though. "My son didn't deserve to die," she said. "And his death was preventable.

Janice and her lawyer claim Jordan had previously been on the prison "Talk to Me" suicide prevention strategy but he was not on the programme when he died.

"I feel like someone has ripped my heart out," she added. "Someone there could have helped him. But nobody did. Instead he was punished." Nobody in authority called to tell her what was happening, she claims.

After Jordan died she says prison officers came to her home to give her the news - delivered in front of her other children. But they stayed just 15 minutes and couldn't tell her what happened.

When Janice phoned the prison she claims she was told she couldn't see what officers referred to as "the body" until Jordan was in the mortuary. But she was given the wrong details for the morgue, which left her calling others to find him without success. She only managed to view J...

An Israeli company linked to a major Conservative Party donor faced enforcement action over its peat extraction operations in Scotland, The Ferret can reveal.

The multinational Israel Chemicals Limited (ICL) mined peat for compost until recently at Nutberry Moss, in Dumfries and Galloway.

The firm was supposed to restore the site after its work finished but Dumfries and Galloway Council issued an enforcement notice against ICL because of its "failure" to put in place funding to do so.

Peatlands have been described as "Scotland's rainforests" because of the large quantities of carbon stored and they are important in the fight against climate change.

In Scotland, they store 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon, equivalent to 140 years' worth of our total annual greenhouse gas emissions. But when peat is extracted carbon is released into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

Documents obtained by The Ferret show the council issued an enforcement notice against ICL in February 2024, in response to its "breach of planning control."

Specifically, the council said ICL had "fail to comply" with requirements in the planning application to provide a financial guarantee to cover the cost of restoring the site, estimated at £1,000 per hectare, and submit full details of it to the council for approval.

Planning officers deserve credit for their dogged determination in pursuing ICL but you can't 'put right' the loss of one of the world's most precious habitats and a valuable carbon store.

Laura Moodie, a spokesperson for the Scottish Greens in Dumfries and Galloway.

This, the council said, was necessary "to ensure financial viability for the post-extraction restoration and aftercare of the site."

A deadline of 16 May 2024 was set for compliance. However, in response to a freedom of information request by The Ferret, the council said "the enforcement notice has not yet been complied with by the developer" - more than seven months after the deadline.

Peat extraction at the site has now stopped, and "the operators are working with our council to get the site restored," the local authority added.

However, at time of writing, the council had not confirmed whether ICL had provided evidence that financing for the restoration had been put in place.

When contacted by The Ferret, ICL confirmed that peat extraction has ended at Nutberry Moss, but declined to comment further.

ICL's largest shareholder is Israel Corporation Limited, 51 per cent of which is owned by billionaire Conservative donor, Idan Ofer.

One of Ofer's companies, Quantum Pacific UK Corporation, reportedly made a £10,000 donation to the Tories in 2019, as well as two £35,000 donations to Robert Jenrick's bid to lead the party in 2024.

The Ferret first reported on alleged breaches of planning permission at Nutberry Moss in October 2022. However, the council did not take enforcement action against ICL until last year.

ICL's permission to extract peat from the site expired in November 2024.

Peat extraction plans for Nutberry Moss rejected by Dumfries and Galloway Council

A spokesperson for Dumfries and Galloway Council told The Ferret: "We are currently working directly with the site operators. This is ongoing work, but we are making positive progress. Peat extraction has now ceased and the operators are working with our council to get the site restored."

Alistair Whyte, head of the campaign group Plantlife Scotland, said he welcomed the council's "determination to hold ICL to account" in restoring the peatland at Nutberry Moss. Calling on the Scottish Government to end peat extraction, he added: "But this is another case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted - it's time to call a halt to the damage and destruction caused by peat extraction in the first place."

Peatland campaigner Dr Janet Moxley said it was "concerning" if ICL had not complied with the planning condition, claiming this would leave the council "at risk of having to pay for site remediation if the cont...

The first minister has faced sustained criticism from the other parties at Holyrood over the Scottish Government's record on education.

During first ministers' questions on February 27, John Swinney was challenged by Scottish Labour's Anas Sarwar about the attainment gap between rich and poor students in Scotland.

Swinney responded by claiming that progress had been made in closing the gap, and cited a reduction in the overall difference in attainment.

The overall poverty-related attainment gap has reduced by 60 per cent since 2009-10 under this government.

John Swinney

Ferret Fact Service looked at this claim and found it Mostly False.

Evidence

The attainment gap is the difference in the levels of educational achievement between those from the most and least deprived areas. Historically, those from more deprived areas have been less likely to achieve the expected levels of literacy and numeracy, for example, and have a lower chance of ending up in a positive destination after leaving school.

Research has shown that this gap has a significant impact on social mobility. It can have "real consequences for the life chances of those from disadvantaged backgrounds," according to the all-party parliamentary group on social mobility.

The difference in attainment between those from Scotland's most and least deprived areas is measured in various ways by the Scottish Government across different age groups. The Scottish index of multiple deprivation (SIMD) is used to define the most and least deprived areas.

Progress on closing the gap has been central to the SNP Scottish Government's mission, with Swinney calling it his "driving purpose" when he was education secretary in 2016.

Then-first minister Nicola Sturgeon also said in 2016 closing the attainment gap between rich and poor students was "a priority".

In response to Anas Sarwar at first ministers' questions, Swinney claimed: "The overall poverty-related attainment gap has reduced by 60 per cent".

There is no "overall" attainment gap that is published in Scottish Government statistics. There are numerous ways in which the poverty-related gap is measured as young people progress through school and beyond.

Primary school and secondary school pupils are assessed each year on their attainment of the expected levels in reading, writing, literacy, numeracy, listening and talking. This is released in the annual Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) statistics.

Prior to 2016-17, literacy and numeracy were measured in alternate years, and are not directly comparable with later statistics.

Primary school

For Primary 1, 4, and 7 combined in 2023-24, the poverty-related attainment gap between the most and least deprived in reading is 17.5 percentage points. This has reduced 1.1 points since 2016-17, when the difference was 18.6 percentage points.

In writing, the attainment gap has reduced 1.3 percentage points since 2016-17 (from 20.7 to 19.4), while in listening and talking it has gone down from 14.5 to 12.2 percentage points, a reduction of 2.3.

The gap in attainment for literacy in 2023-24 is 20.2, 1.9 points lower than it was in 2016-17 (22.1). The poverty-related gap in combined primary school numeracy has reduced marginally from 17.6 to 17.4.

Secondary school

Secondary school pupils are also measured during S3 -when they are 14 or 15 - on their achievement in reading, writing, literacy, numeracy, and listening & talking.

Since 2016-17, there has been a 1.9 percentage point reduction in the attainment gap for reading amongst this age group, a 1.1 point reduction in writing. The gap between the attainment of the richest and the poorest in listening and talking has reduced by 2.3 points in the same time frame.

The attainment gap in literacy for S3s has actually increased since 2016-17, from 30.5 to 30.9. It has been reduced by 1.6 points in numeracy.

School leavers

Attainment is also surveyed for school leavers at whatever age they leave. This is a measure of the poverty-related g...

Senior officials from the UK Space Agency held over 130 meetings with the Ministry of Defence in 2024, prompting renewed concerns about the "weaponisation" of space.

The meetings discussed the spaceport being built at SaxaVord on Shetland, using nuclear reactors in space and collaboration with the US, NATO and arms companies. Two members of the agency's advisory board also work for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

The subject of one meeting was kept secret because it was about a project that was "highly confidential and not in the public domain". Releasing its title risked "compromising our nation's security", said the agency.

The meetings, revealed in response to a freedom of information request, have been criticised by campaigners. Though Scotland's bid to build spaceports is marketed as scientific research, it is driven by the defence industry, they say.

They warn that space could become a "new frontier of conflict" that would put humanity at risk. They fear that spaceports could be "a trojan horse for the arms industry" and demand transparency.

The Space Agency and the MoD both stressed it was necessary to work together "to protect critical national infrastructure from space-based threats".

SaxaVord, on the northern tip of the most northerly inhabited Shetland isle, Unst, is leading the race to open a spaceport in Scotland. It told MPs in February that it would be ready for its first launch in July.

The Shetland News also reported in February that Scotland's richest man and biggest private landowner, Anders Holch Povlsen, had increased his stake in SaxaVord from 25 per cent to over 50 per cent, making him the majority shareholder.

The Ferret reported in 2021 that Povlsen secretly lobbied the Scottish Government against building another spaceport on the A' Mhoine peninsula in north Sutherland, near one of his estates.

Revealed: how landowner lobbied minister on spaceport

In December 2024 work on the Sutherland spaceport was put on hold, with initial launches planned from SaxaVord instead. There are also spaceports planned for Machrihanish on the Kintyre peninsula, Prestwick in South Ayrshire and North Uist in the Outer Hebrides.

The UK Space Agency was asked to list all meetings by six of its senior staff with the MoD in 2024. The agency responded under freedom of information law with a six-page list taken from calendar records, showing over 130 meetings. Some were attended by more than one agency official.

Nine meetings of the agency's advisory board and its audit and risk assurance committee in 2024 also involved people who work for the MoD. According to the agency's register of interests, two of its non-executive board members, Kevin Shaw and Peter Watkins, are paid advisors for the MoD.

Most of the 130 meetings were given a title, summarising their purpose. On 15 January 2024 the Space Agency's chief executive, Dr Paul Bate, met the MoD for a "discussion on SaxaVord and next steps for His Majesty's Government".

Earlier the same month, agency director, Matt Archer, discussed SaxaVord with the government's National Security Strategic Investment Fund, which invests in defence. On 27 March 2024 Archer met the MoD with Orbex, the Scottish space company that switched its planned launches from Sutherland to SaxaVord.

Archer attended four meetings in 2024 with the MoD to discuss NATO space plans. Along with the MoD, he also met with the US Space Force and at the US Embassy.

Chief executive Bate met four times with Major General Paul Tedman, for "catch-ups", lunch and a discussion on the MoD's strategic defence review. Tedman was appointed as the UK's military space commander in May 2024, having previously been a deputy director at US Space Command.

The Space Agency's two deputy chief executives, Annelies Look and Chris White-Horne, also had lunch with Tedman on 22 October 2024. In addition, Look and Bate had meetings with the MoD about the use of nuclear power in space, and White-Horne discussed "space defence civil alignment"...

The head of Edinburgh university has been accused of 'greed' for taking a second job just months before he announced staff cuts.

University of Edinburgh principal and vice-chancellor Sir Peter Mathieson joined the board of Roslin Cell Therapies (CT) in June last year.

The role at the biotech firm could potentially earn him tens of thousands on top of his existing pay, which is worth over £400,000 and was recently increased by five per cent.

Last month, Mathieson warned staff about plans to cut £140m from the university's annual budget, which would result in a "smaller staff base". He said the move was necessary due to a "financial gap" at the university.

But the University and College Union (UCU) has accused management of "manufacturing a crisis" to justify cuts, pointing out that Edinburgh has recorded surpluses in recent years and has assets worth billions.

Staff and the union have reacted angrily to Mathieson's new role, with one lecturer calling it "a slap in the face" for those worried about their future. They questioned how he had time to take on a second job and argued he should be focused on "solving the problems at the university".

The university said any work undertaken in the role would be carried out in Mathieson's "personal time" and insisted that cuts were needed so Edinburgh could maintain its position as a "world-leading" institution.

Roslin Institute

Roslin CT was established in 2006 as a commercial spin-out of the renowned Roslin Institute within Edinburgh university, known for its involvement in the cloning of Dolly the Sheep.

The company now manufactures medical products including a ground-breaking treatment for sickle cell disease.

The university was a major shareholder in Roslin CT until it was sold to a private equity firm in December 2021 - a deal that netted Edinburgh £38m. In June 2024 - two and a half years after the sale - Mathieson joined its board as a non-executive director.

His earnings from Roslin CT have not been disclosed, but the company's latest accounts show its six directors received a combined £350,000 in 2023. This means that each director potentially made tens of thousands of pounds.

Four directors also held share options, a benefit which allows them to buy shares in the company at a fixed or discounted price.

The idea that Peter Mathieson would be paid this amount of money and still have the time to have a part-time job is shocking to me.

Lecturer, University of Edinburgh

The university did not disclose how much Mathieson would be paid for his role at Roslin CT, despite being asked directly by The Ferret.

A spokesperson for the University of Edinburgh said: "Our arms-length commercialisation service Edinburgh Innovations managed the transaction (the sale of Roslin CT) on behalf of the university.

"Peter's role will support Roslin CT's significant endeavour to bring life-saving therapies to patients worldwide, and any work undertaken as part of this will be carried out in his personal time."

Financial dispute

In an email to all staff on 25 February - following three previous emails dating back to July 2024 - Mathieson said the university sector was in "severe financial difficulty".

He blamed factors including national insurance rises, "longstanding" underfunding of Scottish undergraduates, and policy changes that have made the UK less attractive to international students.

Tuition fees from overseas students are a major source of money for universities. Edinburgh brought in £363m in fees paid by non-EU students in 2023-24, about 27 per cent of its total income and a slight increase from the previous year.

Over recent decades, Edinburgh had been able to attract large numbers of international students which meant it could "grow itself out of financial challenge", Mathieson wrote. But management was now forecasting an "operational deficit in forthcoming years".

He argued the university faced a "financial gap" which required a "recurring and sustainable" reduction to its costs in "the or...

A study to determine the impacts of pheasants and red-legged partridges on Scotland's environment and native species is set to commence this year.

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) aims to examine the effects caused by releasing millions of non-native gamebirds each year in rural Scotland to be shot for sport.

A pilot assessment is due to take place this spring in the Cairngorms National Park.

NatureScot recommended research into the impacts of gamebirds in 2023, according to internal communications we obtained via freedom of information.

RSPB Scotland has previously urged the wildlife agency to take action around the release of gamebirds in or around protected areas containing capercaillie, an endangered native bird.

In internal emails, NatureScot highlighted that most existing impact studies have been done in England, where, unlike in Scotland, authorities can regulate the release of gamebirds.

RSPB told The Ferret that such powers are "significantly weaker in Scotland than in other UK countries".

Millions of gamebirds imported during record bird flu outbreak

An initial assessment from NatureScot found it "possible" or "likely" that gamebirds were present in dozens of special protected areas (SPAs) after having been released nearby.

These protected areas contain habitats of native breeding birds including capercaillie, oystercatcher, golden eagle, hen harrier and osprey, but the majority do not require land managers to gain consent in order to release animals.

In England, a licence is required to release gamebirds within 500-metre 'buffer zones' surrounding SPAs and special areas of conservation. The UK Government says it is better to "avoid releasing gamebirds wherever possible" from within any protected site.

Asked about the upcoming impact study, RSPB said it was "important that we build understanding of both the numbers and of environmental impacts on wildlife habitats at release sites".

Rare capercaillie under threat from gamebirds

Paul Walton, RSPB Scotland's head of habitats and species, warned of potential impacts on native animal species, including the potential to pass on disease - particularly bird flu - and the risk of gamebirds attracting more predators, which could also prey on other species.

"RSPB Scotland believes ministers should have the power to regulate releases of gamebirds where environmental harm or disease transfer is occurring or is likely to occur," he added.

"Such powers are currently significantly weaker in Scotland than in other UK countries."

A NatureScot spokesperson said: "Currently, there is little evidence to show that gamebirds are causing damage to protected areas in Scotland, but we will continue to monitor the situation closely."

They claimed discussions about the research had taken place with partner organisations.

A GWCT spokesperson said: "The pilot project to begin looking at the numbers of gamebirds released within the Cairngorms National Park has not yet taken place, but is due to start this spring once the plan for it has been finalised."

The Ferret is an independent, investigative journalism cooperative dedicated to holding power to account. Since 2015, we have reported on corruption, environmental issues, human rights, and political influence in Scotland. Our work is supported by members who believe in journalism that challenges, exposes, and informs. If you value in-depth, fact-based reporting, you can support our work by becoming a member. Join us today: https://theferret.scot/subscribe

Main image: Agustín Povedano/Flickr

Giant supertrawlers routinely fish in Scotland's marine protected areas, damaging precious marine life and fish populations, despite the UK Government having had the powers to stop them since Brexit.

An investigation by Greenpeace has found that the waters most heavily fished by foreign supertrawlers in the last five years were off the coast of Scotland and included seas around Shetland and the Hebrides.

Supertrawlers are massive industrial freezer trawlers measuring more than 100 metres in length. Using enormous nets, they catch hundreds of tonnes of pelagic fish like herring and blue whiting in a single day.

But supertrawlers also damage rare habitats and unintentionally catch large quantities of species including dolphins and porpoises as well as sharks, seals and rays.

Greenpeace has accused the UK Government of "failing our protected seas" while calling for a ban on "supertrawlers, and other types of industrial fishing" from marine protected areas.

The UK Government said it was "carefully considering the next steps for protecting our marine protected areas". The Scottish Government said herring and blue whiting are not protected features in MPAs.

Greenpeace investigators found that from January 2020 to January this year, 26 supertrawlers spent significant time fishing in 44 of the UK's MPAs.

All the supertrawlers were operating legally despite the UK Government having had the power to ban them from operating in British waters since leaving the EU, Greenpeace said.

The Scottish marine protected areas fished by the supertrawlers were: Wyville Thomson Ridge, West of Scotland, Central Fladen, Geikie Slide and Hebridean Slope and Faroe-Shetland Sponge Belt.

Pobie Bank Reef, West Shetland Shelf, Seas off Foula, The Barra Fan and Hebrides Terrace Seamount were also fished by supertrawlers.

These MPAs were set up to protect precious features like seamounts created by extinct volcanoes, stony reefs and soft corals. They also support important species including crustaceans, deep-sea sponges, great skuas, fulmars, gulls and puffins.

The five supertrawlers Greenpeace investigators identified as having spent the most time fishing in UK waters between 2020 and 2025 were Willem van der Zwan (flagged to Netherlands), Margiris (Lithuania), Helen Mary (Germany), Sch 81 Carolien (Netherlands) and Afrika (Netherlands).

The Margiris (143 metres) and Willem van der Zwan (142.5 metres) are two of the biggest supertrawlers on Earth.

Greenpeace pointed out these vessels land the vast majority of their catch abroad and claimed that the "hoovering up of fish gives little economic benefit to the UK".

Erica Finnie, oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said marine protected areas should be "places for fish, marine biodiversity and habitats to rest and recover from the damage caused by human activities". She added: "But the government is making a mockery of our MPAs by allowing these places to be routinely fished - despite having had the powers to ban industrial fishing vessels from protected waters since we left the EU.

"By allowing industrial fishing to continue in our protected areas, the government is degrading entire MPAs from the north of Scotland to the south of Cornwall."

The government is making a mockery of our MPAs by allowing these places to be routinely fished - despite having had the powers to ban industrial fishing vessels from protected waters since we left the EU.

Erica Finnie, oceans campaigner at Greenpeace UK.

A UK government spokesperson said it is committed to banning "destructive bottom trawling" where it is damaging our protected seabed habitats.

They added: "Most marine protected areas are designated to protect seabed habitats, such as reef and sediment habitats, which these large trawlers operating in the open waters are unlikely to damage.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said MPAs are managed "according to the needs of their protected features and their conservation objectives", and that its MPA network "mainly focuses" ...

Scots-based trainers racing greyhounds in England are transporting dogs "illegally" and councils are failing to ensure they comply with animal welfare regulations, it has been claimed.

An investigation by animal welfare activists has found trainers are driving caged greyhounds, without the correct licences, on round trips of up to ten hours to places as far afield as Wolverhampton, in the West Midlands.

Critics argue that dogs are often seen as disposable commodities, moved around the country in cages for racing, and then "dumped on re-homing charities" when they are no longer able to race anymore.

Licenses for transporting animals are issued by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), a UK Government body. Local authorities are tasked with ensuring animal transport complies with the regulations.

There are 27 breeders and trainers in Scotland registered with the Greyhound Board of Great Britain. They keep their greyhounds in kennels in Scotland and race them at tracks elsewhere in the UK.

APHA says a "type 2" licence is required when a journey for a greyhound exceeds eight hours, and there should be a 48-hour break until the next journey. Most Scots trainers have a "type 1" which is required for shorter journeys of up to eight hours.

But activists said most round trips to England for racing take longer than eight hours, and trainers must take into account the time greyhounds spend at a track, to comply with the law.

More than 300 racing greyhounds died last year

They also accused local authorities of being "completely clueless about the rules" and claimed this "lack of knowledge" is "deeply concerning", pointing out councils are tasked with ensuring compliance for all animal transports in Scotland.

The Scottish Greens MSP Mark Ruskell - whose bill to ban greyhound racing in Scotland will be voted on next month by MSPs in the Scottish Parliament - said welfare regulations should be able to protect greyhounds from harm if they are properly enforced, adding that "in the case of transportation they are clearly not."

The Greyhound Board of Great Britain - which says it has invested over £13.5m since 2015 to improve the safety and welfare of racing greyhounds - was asked to comment but did not respond.

Local authorities told The Ferret they were investigating complaints. One council said resource issues means it can only investigate cases when "we become aware of potential issues".

The activists' investigation follows a decision last month by the Welsh Government to prohibit greyhound racing.

The activists - who requested anonymity - conducted a four-month investigation, focusing on trainers who travel to places such as Newcastle Greyhound Stadium, and Monmore Green Stadium, Wolverhampton.

A round trip from Edinburgh to Wolverhampton would involve at least 10 hours travelling for greyhounds, as well as the time involved at the race track. The correct APHA licence would be type 2 which covers journeys over eight hours, the activists said.

But nearly all Scots trainers have a type 1 licence so unless a trainer stayed in Wolverhampton for 48 hours before returning to Scotland with their greyhound/s, they would be breaking the law, said the activists.

One Scots trainer recently posted on social media to reveal he had travelled to Monmore Green Stadium "on a 10-hour round trip" with three dogs.

The activists raised the licence issue with 11 local authorities and said they "discovered a staggering lack of knowledge" regarding animal transport law. "Despite local authorities also having the power to advise against travel, they have allowed Scottish greyhound trainers to remain on the roads illegally over a number of months since we brought it to their attention," one activist told The Ferret.

They added: "After much protracted discussion with APHA and the relevant local authorities, only one has now taken out a type 2 license. I appreciate that it's not a subject which any of them seem to have come across before, however the informati...