Allowing scallop dredging in 'strictly protected' dolphin reserves is madness | George Monbiot

Welsh government plans to reopen Cardigan Bay to destructive dredging suggest it's an even worse defender of our key conservation areas than Westminster - and that's quite a feat

Three weeks ago, a friend and I took our kayaks down to Cardigan Bay, and launched them on to a flat sea. Even from the beach we could see that something was happening: the sea serpent heads of cormorants were emerging from the water with mackerel in their beaks, while gulls squabbled over the smaller fish being driven to the surface.

By the time we were half a mile from the shore, we found ourselves surrounded by great flocks of herring gulls, guillemots and razorbills, sitting on the surface, watching a constellation of tiny flashes as shoals of sandeels were herded by the mackerel far below. Every so often, as a shoal was driven towards the surface, the gulls would go mad, squawking and fighting and dipping their heads into the water, and the diving birds would disappear into the sea.