By Jo MacKichan
Oceans Screenings
Caolas are thrilled to be able to show the Oceans film by David Attenborough within our area. We have been granted the rights to share this film within our Coastal Community by Revive Our Oceans (https://reviveourocean.org).
The Oceans film is another powerful David Attenborough film that was released earlier this year and is about the importance of marine bio-diversity, a subject that is at the heart of Caolas. We believe strongly in the involvement of the local community towards understanding and participating in the marine environment and valuing its importance in the conservation of the diversity within the sea, increasing the richness for animals and vegetation that exist and develop within the waters around us.
The oceans have been a mystery to many people who only see the surface but not the richness that lies beneath. Once this world opens up, it makes you realise the interdependence of life below the water on a healthy, diverse environment, but also its fragility. However, the film also brings about an awareness of the problems facing this delicate environment and its ability to survive the pressures of over-industrialisation.
Marine Protected Areas are an effective, internationally recognised tool for protecting marine habitats and wildlife. Luckily our area is surrounded mostly by an MPA which goes from Jura to Loch Sunart (see the map for more details). The MPA was set up to preserve sensitive species as it is the only area in Europe for the Flapper Skate and their nurseries.
The showing of the film is timely as it coincides with the upcoming Scottish Government consultation on Proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) Management Areas: Inshore MPA and PMF Fisheries Management Measures (2025). This consultation, expected to launch in November 2025, will invite views on new management measures for inshore MPAs that still require them, as well as for 11 PMFs most vulnerable to bottom-contacting fishing gear outside the protected network. We know that people are keen to get involved in their local environment and this consultation is a great way to consider any changes that individuals feel are important toward the management of our own MPA. Despite the protection the MPA offer, some fishing activities are still allowed within the MPA, such as fishing/dredging between Salen on Mull and the mouth of Loch Sunart. But the consultation is an opportunity for everyone to have their say.