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Fears for dolphin safety |
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Friday, 14 March 2008 |
The Moray Firth’s renowned bottlenose dolphin population must not be harmed in any way by renewed oil and gas exploration in the area, Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said today.
Lochhead made the comments after writing to Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform John Hutton to urge him to take note of Scottish Natural Heritage’s concern over the possible effect exploration activities could have on the dolphins and their habitat.
Lochhead said:
“I appreciate that oil and gas exploration and exploitation is critically important to the Scottish and UK economies, but this needs to be balanced with our environmental responsibilities. We must be satisfied that there will be no adverse effect on the integrity of the special area of conservation in the Moray Firth and its local bottlenose dolphin population. This is a protected area for these dolphins and a spot that is popular for environmental tourism.
“I strongly support the recommendations for further work made by Scottish Natural Heritage and would urge the UK Government to address them before making a final decision on oil and gas activities in the inner Moray Firth.”
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