Shetland Times Column 25th April 2025
Spring has truly sprung - lambs aplenty, longer days and fading daffodils. The Easter holidays and the start of this year’s anticipated 145 cruise ships visits brought an influx of tourists, many keen to see Jimmy Perez’s house, and so began another season of Shetland experiences like boat trips.
The speakers at Friday evening’s marine talks in the Shetland Museum provided the audience with a wide variety of topics on Shetland’s marine life and the various ongoing initiatives that are supporting it. I don’t think anyone there needed much persuasion of the importance of healthy seas.
As well as an update on the citizen science Shorewatch project, we heard from Emily Hague who has moved to Shetland to work at UHI Shetland on the Blue Connect project which involves data collection on marine mammals in the Shetland and Fair Isle Important Marine Mammal Area (MMA).
Pete Bevington’s talk on his decades of observations at the Hillswick Sanctuary was particularly thought-provoking as he highlighted concerns about so far unexplained changes in seal populations.
Changing sea temperatures and marine pollution, including micro-plastics, impacts not just mammals but seabird populations too. The last seabird census published last year, Seabirds Count, found that almost two-thirds of Scotland’s seabird species have declined over the last 20 years.
So many people in Shetland make their living from the seas, from the generations of fishing families, to aquaculture or other marine enterprises and the tourism sector, providing accommodation and services for island visitors who want to experience marine mammal sightings, swim at spectacular beaches, or enjoy the peace and solitude of walks along the coastline.
There’s an understanding of the need for renewable energy as climate change takes its toll on the natural world. We are seeing dramatic weather changes including increasing rainfall and higher temperatures. Vulnerability to wildfires was demonstrated recently in Arran and Dumfries and Galloway.
The clamour for offshore renewables though cannot be at the expense of those who have long made their livelihoods from the sea, and it is vital that stakeholder engagement is more than just a tick box exercise.
Meantime, at the Scottish Parliament the Natural Environment Bill is currently being scrutinised by the Rural Affairs and Islands (RAI) Committee. It proposes management of wild deer and changes to the way National Parks are run. It would also allow the Scottish Government to make and change laws relating to the Environmental Impact Assessments regime and the Habitats Regulations.
It was therefore fortuitous to hear Karen Hall from NatureScot touch on this legislation at the Marine Life and Shetland Seas event.
The huge efforts across Shetland for the annual ‘Voar Redd Up’ last weekend, and the number of green rubbish bags by the roadside and at beaches, further demonstrates the value and importance of the natural environment to us all.