Who will win this clash of dolphins versus our oil on troubled waters?

IT IS a classic conservation-versus-development dispute. Desire to find more oil and gas reserves off Scotland's coast is clashing with concern for a colony of renowned bottlenose dolphins which is also a valuable asset – in tourism terms.

Yesterday the Scottish Government came out fighting for the dolphins and said they should not be affected by the search for reserves below the Moray Firth.

Richard Lochhead, the environment secretary, said no decision on exploration of the inner firth should be taken until issues raised by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) are addressed.

His concern is outlined in a letter to John Hutton, Westminster's secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform. It comes the day after the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) submitted an 18,000-strong petition and statement from 25 scientists on the impact of development on the dolphins.

Mr Lochhead said: "I appreciate that oil and gas exploration and exploitation is critically important to the Scottish and UK economies, but… we must be satisfied that there will be no adverse effect on the integrity of the special area of conservation in the Moray Firth and its local bottlenose dolphin population.

"This is a protected area for these dolphins and a spot that is popular for environmental tourism.

"I strongly support the recommendations for further work made by SNH and would urge the UK government to address them before making a final decision on oil and gas activities in the inner Moray Firth."

Both sides have strong arguments. The UK's oil and gas industry provides three-quarters of the country's energy needs and supports 400,000 jobs.

With up to 25 billion barrels of oil and gas still to recover from British waters, the new licensing round provides a range of opportunities for companies to find and develop the UK's remaining hydrocarbons.

But the dolphins, too, have impressive statistics. The 130-strong Moray Firth population generates nearly £20 million a year in marine tourism, a growing area said to be worth £57 million a year in Scotland and supporting 2,500 jobs. Primarily for its dolphin interest, a large part of the firth, from Helmsdale in Sutherland to Lossiemouth in Moray, is recognised as a Special Area of Conservation under the European Habitats Directive.

The debate now is over who has the stronger case. Until exploration is carried out it will not be known whether Block 17/3 in the firth will be worth millions, billions, or nothing at all. However, it is feared that intense noise caused by oil and gas drilling, alongside disturbance and pollution risk, poses a threat to the dolphins and may lead to them abandoning the area.

Block 17/3 in the Moray Firth was in the 24th licensing round of sea areas around Britain being opened up for oil exploration and has been under assessment.

The UK government has recognised the potential harm to dolphins and last month said the block was excluded from the 25th round because of concerns over the harm drilling could do to the mammals. But a WDCS spokeswoman said: "In the 25th round the government said it was excluding the Inner Moray Firth because it was still under assessment for the 24th round. So it's not excluded officially at all. In fact it's still under assessment and up for grabs."