Support for Mull crabbing zone

A PROJECT to create a crabbing zone to the west of Mull, producing crab worth £750,000 to the island’s economy, has been supported by Mull Community Council.

The proposal by the fishermen of Mull, backed by fishermen on Coll and Tiree, was presented to this month’s community council meeting by Nick Turnbull, of Mull Aquaculture and Fisheries Association.

Community council chairman Billy McClymont said: ‘It is a fantastic idea that this box would be closed exclusively for crab fisheries.’

The community council’s draft minutes explained: ‘The crabbing zone has a number of potential benefits, including protection of the local brown crab stocks, giving some protection to the local economy, encouraging biodiversity and avoiding gear conflict.

‘[Mr Turnbull] did warn there would probably be some dissension from scallop dredgers from further afield but these would have access for eight months of the year.

‘The project was also designed to be sustainable, with four to six boats involved and a maximum limit of 300 creels per boat taken from the zone and, with crab tagging also planned, would provide information on crab and scallop stocks plus potentially offer research into the movement of crabs. There are no crabs in the summertime.

‘Asked about the value of the stocks, [Mr Turnbull] advised that this area was producing around £60,000 for scallops and £750,000 for crab.’

Community councillor Jim Corbett asked if the crabbing zone would create a precedent for the future formation of a Marine National Park, which ‘was not popular on the island’, but Mr Turnbull thought it would not.

The community council agreed unanimously to support the proposal.