Scottish scallops back on the menu as ban is eased
Large areas off the Scottish west coast were last week declared free from the scallop disease that has blighted the industry for several months.
The ban placed on scallop fishing off the Orkney Islands, Moray Firth and some areas off the west coast of the Scottish mainland has been lifted after the Scottish Executive announced that amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) no longer represented such a threat.
But large areas of water between the Outer Hebrides and the west coast still remain out of bounds.
Seafood suppliers have got around the ban by buying scallops from the Irish Sea and Scotland's east coast. For restaurants, the main problem has been an increase in prices.
Glasgow seafood restaurant Rogano's has kept scallops on its menu but said it was on the brink of taking them off or putting the price up when the partial lifting of the ban was announced.
Fish merchant Peter Keracher said: "It is the price that has put chefs off rather than the ban. I am sure that by Easter they will be back on the menu."
James MacCallum, a Glasgow-based scallop supplier, said the Scottish Executive's ban had been over-cautious because the amount of ASP in the scallops was not dangerous and was certainly not as high as that in Canadian scallops.
by Caroline Lord