IONISTS have called on Scots Secretary Michael Forsyth to block the re-introduction of fishing nets which they claim kill large numbers of harbour porpoises.
The Scottish Office is proposing to allow large mesh monofilament gill nets off Scotland - but ban their use within the six-mile inshore limit.
Scottish Wildlife and Countryside Link says it would be ``a retrograde step for conservation'' of the porpoises.
Ms Elizabeth Leighton, marine spokeswoman for World Wide Fund for Nature Scotland, said conservationists recognised that Scottish fishermen were at a disadvantage under present fishing regulations - which allow boats fishing out of non-Scottish ports to carry the nets.
However, she urged the Government to negotiate new regulations which would apply to all European fishermen.
A spokesman for the Scottish Office said the amendment to the order which would allow the use of the nets would be laid before Parliament ``as soon as possible''.
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