Page 59 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #12
P. 59
WILDNEWS
ENVIRONMENT
TRUTH OR FICTION?
Scottish kelp
dredging contested Weshould
bescaredof
lans for licensed dredging of kelp
Pforests off Scotland’s west coast
have met widespread opposition from harlequin
environmental and marine protection
groups. A Scottish Parliamentary ladybirds
committee has now supported a
ban on taking whole living kelp plants
from Scottish waters. But Scottish They aren’t good for our native
Government ministers could still seek two-spots, but do harlequin
to remove this protection when a bill ladybirds really pose a threat
linked to management of coastal waters
is considered by its parliament in 2019. to our homes, pets or even
Small-scale harvesting of kelp has been ourselves? Helen Roy enlightens.
carried out in Scotland for centuries,
but proposals by Ayrshire-based Marine
Biopolymers Ltd (MBL) are the first for THE GLORIOUS SUMMERS OF 2018 and But what if you’re
Harlequin
industrial-scale harvesting. The company 1976 have something else in common ladybirds may allergic to them?
wishes to extract compounds, known as – ladybirds (and lots of them). In the be the innocent “I’m sure every
alginates, from kelp dredged from the 70s, it was native seven- and 11-spots. victims of recent insect bite could
scare stories in
seabed at places between Lewis and Isle This time, it’s harlequin ladybirds – produce an allergic
of Mull. The amount taken annually introductions from Asia – entering our the media. reaction in some
would increase to around 30,000 homes en masse to overwinter. people,” says Roy. “But it’s so rare that
tonnes after five years. If news reports are to be believed, I’ve only heard of two or three cases.”
According to an MBL spokesman, the this ‘cannibalistic’, ‘STD-ridden’, Similarly, the chances of a pet being
company’s scoping report is only the ‘biblical plague’ is stinking out our poisoned are vanishingly small. “The
first stage of an extensive consultation homes, staining our furnishings, only case I’ve come across was a dog
process, which will involve groups poisoning our pets, biting people, that got a mouthful of them.”
from communities across Scotland. inducing allergic reactions and Neither will they be spreading
But campaigners remain concerned. generally ‘wreaking havoc’. But are sexually transmitted diseases. The
“Mechanically stripping swaths of pristine the reports to be believed? fungal infection in question is, says
kelp cannot be considered sustainable,” Roy, “absolutely no risk
says Calum Duncan of the Marine S In all the decades I’ve whatsoever. It’s barely
Conservation Society. “We would urge transmissible to other
a complete re-think and lower-impact been working with ladybird species, let
alternatives.” Kenny Taylor ladybirds, I’ve had one alone anything else.”
The risk of bites has also
bite – from a seven-spot. T
FIND OUT MORE Read the scoping been greatly exaggerated.
report from MBL: bit.ly/scopingreport “In all the decades I’ve been
working with ladybirds, I’ve
Not according to ecologist Helen had one bite – from a seven-spot. I can’t
Kelp habitats lock Roy, who explains that there may be begin to describe how minor it was.”
up carbon and little doubt that harlequins are having The only ones benefitting from the
provide shelter for an impact on our wildlife – they eat scare stories are pest controllers.
other species.
and outcompete native two-spot “The great shame is that they could
ladybirds. “But from the human be harming other species as well.
perspective, they are nothing more There’s no specific control method
than a very minor nuisance,” she says. for harlequins, and two-spots also
True, some people might not like like to overwinter in houses.”
the smell, which derives from a yellow Stuart Blackman
defensive secretion that can indeed
cause stains. “All ladybirds have a HELEN ROY is an ecologist
slight taint to them,” says Roy. “If you at the Centre for Ecology and Kelp: Feargus Cooney/Getty; ladybirds: ARCO/naturepl.com
have 200 in your window frame, it’s Hydrology in Wallingford.
going to be stronger, but it doesn’t
travel far. And hoovering them up WANT TO COMMENT? Email
probably makes it worse.” wildlifeletters@immediate.co.uk
December 2018 BBC Wildlife 59
