In Scotland, fishing trawlers scrape the seabed despite protection promises

KYLEAKIN, Scotland (AP) — Bally Philp hauls up his baited traps from the waters off Scotland’s Isle of Skye, checking each one methodically. Unlike most of Scotland’s coastline, these waters are protected from industrial fishing methods that have devastated seabeds elsewhere. But Philp, who’s fished for more than three decades, has watched conditions deteriorate nearly everywhere else along the coast.

“The inshore archipelagos on the West Coast of Scotland used to be full of fish,” Philp said. “We have no commercial quantities of fish left inshore at all.”

While 37% of Scotland’s waters have been designated as marine protected areas, only a small fraction have management measures in place to enforce that protection, according to environmental groups. Bottom trawling and scallop dredging — methods that rake the seabed — are permitted in about 95% of Scotland’s coastal waters, including within designated protected areas, according to marine conservation groups.

Bottom trawls drag heavy nets across the seafloor, crushing marine habitats. The method causes extensive carbon pollution: it burns nearly three times more fuel than other fishing methods, and the nets disturb seabed sediments, releasing stored carbon into the ocean. Bottom trawlers often discard a substantial portion of their catch back into the sea, and survival rates for discarded marine life are typically very low.

The problem isn't just in Scotland. Across Europe and globally, bottom trawling within protected areas remains common and often unregulated, with industrial vessels operating in waters officially set aside for conservation. A 2024 report from the Marine Conservation Society and Oceana found 90% of protected marine sites across seven European countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Spain, experienced bottom trawling between 2015 and 2023, with vessels logging 4.4 million bottom trawling hours in protected waters.

In 1984, a longstanding 3‑mile (4.8-kilometer) ban on bottom trawling around much of Scotland’s coast was repealed. Fish landings in areas such as the Clyde plummeted, with catches of many species now only a tiny fraction of their historical levels.

Philp began his fishing career working on trawlers in the late 1980s. By then, fish had become bycatch — unwanted species caught accidentally that were often illegal to land under newly introduced quota systems. His job was to shovel them overboard, dead.

“You would see a stream of dead fish flowing off the back of the boat,” he said. “It’s a heartbreaking thing to see.”

He resolved instead to fish with baited traps — a method that causes minimal habitat damage and allows most unwanted catch to survive when returned to the sea.

But that choice has meant limiting himself to the shrinking number of areas where such fishing remains viable. Across much of the U.K., reefs have been heavily damaged or destroyed by scallop dredging. Loch Alsh, where Philp works, holds some of the most intact reefs remaining.

Philp, who comes from three generations of fishers, says he’ll be the last in his family to make a living in this industry. He taught his two sons, now 20 and 30, how to fish, but he’s discouraged them from making it a career.

“We’re at the arse end of something that was once really good,” Philp said. “Unless we can turn that around, why would anyone want their kids to do this?”

Philp isn’t alone in struggling to sustain traditional fishing practices. Scallop diver Alasdair Hughson spends four days a week at sea, traveling far from home in Dingwall and his two children, because nearby coastal areas have been too degraded to support his work, he said.

“If there was no need to increase the size of vessels and move about and become more nomadic, we would have just stayed the way we were, because why wouldn’t you?” he said.

By the time he started diving, stocks had declined. “It wasn’t regenerating because scallop dredging had altered the habitat to such an extent.”

A 2023 Marine Conservation Society analysis found that banning bottom trawling in U.K. offshore protected areas could deliver a net benefit of up to 3.5 billion pounds ($4.7 billion) over 20 years, accounting for increased carbon storage, pollution removal, nutrient cycling and recreation opportunities.

Marine biologist Caitlin Turner said the habitat destruction creates cascading effects throughout the ecosystem.

“If you degrade the habitat, then there’s less places for juvenile fish to live and spawn in,” she said. “This affects the abundance of the animals in the area. It trickles upward — you’ll have less of the bigger animals that feed on the prey animals.”

The damage could affect Scotland’s tourism industry, Turner said. Visitors to destinations like the Isle of Skye typically find fish and chips on menus that are imported. More than 80% of seafood eaten in the U.K. in 2019 was fished or farmed outside U.K. waters, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

“There is a huge demand from tourists and it is difficult to meet these demands,” said Miles Craven, executive chef at Wickman Hotels on the Isle of Skye. “I have noticed it get incrementally harder in the last eight years.”

The Scottish government had indicated it would launch a consultation on fisheries management measures for coastal protected areas in late 2025, but in December officials announced the consultation would be delayed at least six months.

Scientists and community groups are already in the field designing restoration approaches, including efforts to restore sea grass and oyster populations. But conservationists say this won’t be sufficient without reinstating a coastal limit that protects at least 30% of Scotland’s inshore seas — part of the international target to protect 30% of land and sea by 2030.

A Scottish government spokesperson said 13% of inshore protected areas are currently closed to certain types of bottom trawling and scallop dredging, and additional measures are expected in the coming years that will allow Scotland to exceed the 30% protection by the 2030 target. Officials cited upcoming parliamentary elections and late delivery by external contractors for the consultation delay.

“The more aware I become about the nuances of fisheries management and the marine ecosystems that we’re working in, the more despair I feel because I know we can get it right,” Philp said.

For Philp and other small-scale fishermen, the timeline means more years of waiting for marine protected areas that were designated a decade ago and still lack enforcement.

“I know we can fix this," he said. "I despair at the fact that we’re being so slow to fix this.”

M.K. Wildeman contributed reporting from Hartford, Connecticut. Hammerschlag reported from Seattle.

The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

Small-scale creel fishermen operate in Loch Alsh next to the Isle of Skye on Nov. 20, 2025, in Scotland. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

Seagulls fly near a creel fishing vessel in Loch Alsh off the coast of Kyleakin, Scotland on Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

Caitlin Turner, a marine biologist, poses for a portrait on Nov. 17, 2025, in Cramond Village, Scotland. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

Algae grows on the rocks of a tidal path connecting the mainland to Cramond Island on Nov. 17, 2025, in Cramond Village, Scotland. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

Creel fishing boats, tour boats and others dock at the harbor on Nov. 22, 2025, in Portree, Scotland. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

Extra shells from scallops are stored at Keltic Seafare on Nov. 21, 2025, in Dingwall, Scotland. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

Alasdair Hughson, owner of Keltic Seafare, a company that process sustainably caught prawns, lobsters and scallops, stands for a portrait on Nov. 21, 2025, in Dingwall, Scotland. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

Fisherman work on a boat in the North Sea on Jan. 5, 2026, in Fraserburgh, a fishing town in northeastern Scotland. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

A starfish is returned to the sea on Nov. 20, 2025, off the coast of Kyleakin, Scotland. Any small amounts of bycatch are tossed back into the loch when caught by creel fisheries and the vast majority of it survives the process. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

Bally Philp stores fresh-caught prawns on Nov. 20, 2025, off the coast of Kyleakin, Scotland, which are later delivered to buyers alive. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

Bally Philp and his crew member take the boat out to their creels on Nov. 20, 2025, in Loch Alsh off the coast of Kyleakin, Scotland. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

Bally Philp looks out at the loch for the buoy marking his creels on Nov. 20, 2025, in Loch Alsh off the coast of Kyleakin, Scotland. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

A crew member on Bally Philp's boat puts new bait into the creels before resetting them into the loch off the coast of Kyleakin, Scotland, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Emily Whitney)

NEW YORK (AP) — Kamala Harris “wrote off rural America" during the 2024 presidential campaign and failed to attack Donald Trump with sufficient “negative firepower," according to a long-awaited post-election autopsy released on Thursday by the Democratic National Committee.

The committee's chair, Ken Martin, shared the 192-page report only after facing intense internal pressure from frustrated Democratic operatives concerned with his leadership. Martin had originally promised to release the autopsy, only to keep it under wraps for months because he was concerned it would be a distraction ahead of the midterms as Democrats mobilize to take back control of Congress.

On Tuesday, Martin apologized for his handling of the situation and conceded that the report was withheld because it “was not ready for primetime."

Although the autopsy criticizes Democrats' focus on “identity politics,” it sidesteps some of the most controversial elements of the 2024 campaign. The report does not address former President Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection, the rushed selection of Harris to replace him on the ticket or the party's acrimonious divide over the war in Gaza.

“I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” Martin wrote in an essay on Substack on Thursday. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it. But transparency is paramount.”

A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The initial reaction from Democratic operatives was a mix of bafflement and anger over Martin's handling of the situation.

“Why not say this in 2024, or bring in more people to finish it, instead of turning this into the dumbest media cycle for 7-8 months?” Democratic strategist Steve Schale wrote on social media.

The postelection report, which was authored by Democratic consultant Paul Rivera, calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South, who have come to believe they are not included in the Democratic vision of a stronger and more dynamic America for everyone.”

“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.

The autopsy points to a reduction in support and training for Democratic state parties, voter registration shifts and “a persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters.”

Thursday's release comes as Martin confronts a crisis of confidence among party officials who are increasingly concerned about the health of their political machine barely a year into his term. Some Democratic operatives have had informal discussions about recruiting a new chair, even though most believe that Martin’s job wasn't in serious jeopardy ahead of the midterm elections.

The report found that Harris and her allies failed to focus enough on Trump's negatives, especially his felony convictions. This was part of a broader criticism that Democrats' messaging is too focused on reason and winning arguments, “even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.”

“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report states. “The Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.”

The report continues: “It was essential to prosecute a more effective case as to why Trump should have been disqualified from ever again taking office. The grounds were there, but the messaging did not make the case.”

Trump's attack on Harris' transgender policies were cited as a key contrast.

Specifically, the report suggested the Democratic nominee was “boxed” in by the Trump campaign's “very effective” ad that highlighted Harris' previous statement of support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.

Democratic pollsters believed that “if the Vice President would not change her position – and she did not – then there was nothing which would have worked as a response," the report said.

The report criticized Harris' outreach to key segments of America while condemning the party's focus on “identity politics.”

“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report says. “You can’t lose rural areas by overwhelming margins and make it up elsewhere when rural voters are a significant share of the electorate. If Democrats are to reclaim leadership in the Heartland or the South, candidates must perform well in rural turf. Show up, listen, and then do it again.”

The report also references Democrats' underperformance with male voters of color.

“Male voters require direct engagement. The gender gap can be narrowed. Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color,” it says.

President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a fireside chat on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)

FILE - Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at DNC headquarters, Jan. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert, File)