Shellfish pickers warned off Highland beach
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LOCAL people are being asked to report anyone they see collecting shellfish along the shores of a Highland nature reserve.
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and Police Scotland issued a joint statement today (Tuesday) warning people that it is a criminal offence to pick shellfish in Loch Fleet or along the northern shores of the Dornoch Firth.
SNH said it had been prompted to issue the warning after it was reported to the reserve manager that people were seen collecting shellfish in the area, a practice which it believes to be on the increase.
Loch Fleet and the surrounding Dornoch Firth are nationally and internationally protected areas and the estuarine habitats there are especially important for a variety of overwintering waders and geese.
Shellfish and other marine invertebrates are an important food source for overwintering birds.
Because both commercial and domestic collecting of shellfish reduces the food available for wintering birds, the area is protected by the "Loch Fleet and Dornoch and Cuthill Sands Nature Conservation Order 1995". This order prohibits collecting shellfish and marine invertebrates.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: "Police Scotland treats wildlife crime very seriously and we would encourage the public to report all incidents to the police at the time they see the incident in progress.
"Not only is shellfish collection an offence on Loch Fleet, it is also a potentially very dangerous activity, due to the soft mud and tidal nature of the loch, therefore we would strongly urge anyone against undertaken this activity."
Loch Fleet was became a national nature reserve in 1998 and is the most northerly estuary on Scotland’s east coast.
Adam Rose, SNH’s manager of the Loch Fleet National Nature Reserve, added: "Protecting areas like Loch Fleet and the Dornoch Firth helps ensure that developments and activities are sustainable, meaning that more of us can enjoy an important part of Scotland’s nature.
"Nature-based tourism plays a vital part in the rural economy of Sutherland and across Scotland as a whole, pulling in millions of pounds and creating many hundreds of job opportunities."
• Police Scotland can be contacted on its non-emergency phone number 101.
