Cromarty Rising maintain that the Scottish Government have the power to prevent STS in the Moray Firth by refusing to grant a European Protected Species (EPS) licence. Dolphins, whales & proposes are all EPS and where an activity that is undertaken that could cause disturbance to them (which is an offence) – a licence is issued as a defence from prosecution provided some strict tests are met. The Scottish Government maintain that regulations which impose the need for an EPS licence don’t apply to Scotland in relation to reserved matters. We say they do. So does our legal advice and interestingly, it would appear that Marine Scotland’s own advice on the subject concur’s with our understanding of it. Over the next while we will dissect that advice for you. If you can’t wait, you can read it here:
http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0044/00446679.pdf
