Freshwater Pearl Mussels

Scotland supports several of the largest remaining populations of freshwater pearl mussels (FWPM) in the world some of which continue to be damaged by criminal activity. Pearl fishing continues in Scotland, almost uniquely within Europe. FWPM are also threatened by unlawful river engineering and pollution.

A single offence concerning freshwater pearl mussels was recorded in 2022-23, in line with recent years.
Figure 18: Freshwater Pearl Mussels offences recorded by Police Scotland 2018-19 to 2022-23.

As shown in Figure 18, there was one recorded offence in relation to FWPM during 2022-23. This offence in Tayside involved disturbing FWPM habitat with an excavator, causing injury and death of FWPM. This is in line with the level in recent years (average of around 1 offence per year over the previous four years).

Further detail on FWPM offences is provided in Table 41 of the Tables supporting document.