Council under fire over Scapa Flow scheme

Highland Correspondent

Tuesday 3 July 2012

IT has sheltered Viking longships and the British Grand Fleet and is the last resting place for the Kaiser's scuttled German fleet, but now the waters of Scapa Flow are being disturbed by new hostilities.

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David Ross Highland Correspondent

Fishermen in Orkney have accused the islands' council of threatening an important fishing ground by proposing to weaken 20-year-old environmental controls which ban discharging any ballast water loaded elsewhere into Scapa Flow.

They fear dumping any amount could lead to alien species being introduced.

However, the council's consultants think the risk is negligible and worth taking to earn more from the oil industry.Orkney Islands Council's Policy and Resources Committee will today consider a report that warns the council is losing out on payments it can charge for ship-to-ship transfers of oil in Scapa Flow because of the policy.The examples it cited total up to £200,000 in just two months.It will recommend ships exchange most of their ballast water at sea and that councillors allow some ballast water to be discharged within Scapa Flow.However, Fiona Matheson, Secretary of Orkney Fishermen's Association, said: "What is being proposed is that 95% be discharged at sea and 5% in Scapa Flow. "If it was a chemical we were talking about, 95% dilution would be welcome. But even 5% of ballast water can allow alien species to take hold and grow. Once they are in, they are in. There is no turning back."She said Scapa Flow was important for crab, prawn and oysters, and fishermen were concerned about the arrival of alien species such as the Chinese Mitten Crab in ballast water. She said: "It acts as a predator and competes for the food the indigenous species rely on. "When a ship is loaded with cargo there has to be a discharge of the ballast water which was carried to maintain stability when it was not loaded. This water is often taken on in another coastal region, which increases the risk of non-native species being introduced when it is discharged.Under the current policy oil tankers must periodically halt loading, move out of Scapa Flow and discharge some or all ballast before returning to resume loading. Orkney Islands Council's marine services department has a minimum charge of £26,250 for each ship-to-ship transfer but, at 41p per tonne, can earn £41,000 from a transfer of 100,000 tonnes.However, the report says the majority of such opportunities are being lost to locations which do not have ballast water management policy constraints, "due to the cost and inefficiency which results from the current policy for Scapa Flow".It says in April and May there were five operations which could have earned the council around £200,000, but were lost to other ports because of the controls. The council says that in addition to the authority losing potential payments, ship operators are faced with extra costs as they have to move out of Scapa Flow to discharge the water before returning.It said: "It adds upwards of £100,000 to the cost of the whole operation, thus making it uneconomic."However, Ms Matheson said no attempt has been made to evaluate the potential losses that could occur were an invasive species to take hold. A council spokesman said work had been under way since 2009 to review the policy and there had been a wide consultation.He said: "Among the information councillors will consider before making a recommendation to full council is a written submission from the Orkney Fisheries' Association."He added other written sub-missions, from the likes of Scottish Natural Heritage, the Scottish Environment Protec-tion Agency, and RSPB Scotland, who had raised concerns, would also be considered by councillors.

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Council under fire over Scapa Flow scheme

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