Ministers are facing calls to introduce “coherent measures” to protect “vulnerable” carbon stores contained in Scotland’s sea lochs. Environmental campaigners say a ban on seabed trawling in some areas is needed, with research showing just a “single disturbance event” can lead to “very rapid losses” of carbon.
The Sustainable Inshore Fisheries Trust (Sift) made the plea, arguing recent wildfires near peatlands – which also act as a carbon store – highlight the need for action.
Scotland’s sea lochs play an important role in storing carbon which would otherwise be released into the environment and contribute to climate change.
Sift executive director Charles Millar called for Government action in light of research by the University of St Andrews which looked at the impact of seabed trawling in these areas.
The report’s senior co-author, Professor Bill Austin of the university’s Environmental Change Research Group – who was also the author of the Scottish Government’s Blue Carbon Action Plan published in September 2025 – said the research had shown “a single disturbance event can drive significant losses”.
Mr Millar said: “This new research confirms that the heads of Scottish sea lochs, which collect peat washed down by rivers from surrounding glens, contain some of the most vulnerable carbon stores in the country.
“We now know from these groundbreaking ‘sea loch simulator’ experiments that even a single disturbance event can have a major effect on these important sediments, releasing substantial amounts of carbon into the water and then back into the atmosphere.
“With Scottish peatlands at ever greater risk of fire, as we saw at the massive moorland blaze near Nethy Bridge in the Cairngorms this summer, we must urgently act to protect our equally important seabed carbon from disturbance.”
He said the Scottish Government was in June “found to have failed in its legal duties to ensure the Scottish seabed is achieving good environmental status”, he called for action.
