This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter.

At close to a century old, Sir David Attenborough is taking us on another deep dive into the life of the ocean, in a global screening event this Thursday to mark his 99th birthday – with limited screenings at Odeon cinemas across Scotland.

And even the trailer is brutally frank. It's as if every year more the natural history presenter spends on the planet, his message becomes more hard-hitting. Attenborough, who inspired us through his Blue Planet series, is now ramming home the absolute necessity for change.

"After almost 100 years on the planet,” he says in his commentary, “I now understand the most important place on Earth is not on land, but at sea."

One of the film's targets reportedly is the damage done by the bottom-trawling of our oceans. Graphic footage of its impact is accompanied by a commentary in which Attenborough describes how these vessels plough through the seabed so powerfully that “the trails of destruction can be seen from space”.

As I discovered when I was researching The Herald’s Future of Clyde Fishing series, bottom trawling for nephrops is big business in Scotland but also high impact – and the practice continues to damage our seabed wherever it takes place, inshore waters or offshore, including marine protected areas.

37% of Scotland’s seas are designated as marine protected areas, but that does not mean they are protected from damaging practices. According to research by Oceana, in 2023, Scottish offshore MPAs suffered almost 6,000 hours of suspected bottom trawling.

Hugh Raven, CEO of Open Seas, writing an op-ed for our Future of the Clyde series observed: “Today, only 5% of Scotland’s inshore waters are safeguarded from fishing methods that drag fishing gear across the seafloor, leaving the remaining large........

© Herald Scotland