The thing is , the dredging ban is coming anyway,it is completely separate to the proposed scallop diving ban, so the bottom habitat will be protected whatever happens. There are also 2 commercial scallop divers working in the area (doing no environmental damage and providing an alternative to dredged scallops) who would be put out of business if the second proposal went through
The proposed scallop diving ban is (in my opinion) purely a sop to the commercial fishing industry, a "well its ok, if you cant have them, no one can" gesture. It is part of a wider pattern, that assumes large scale commercial fishermen have more rights to take from the sea than anyone else
The announcement on the Cornwall Sea Fisheries website cites an opinion piece from "Fishing News" (a newspaper for the commercial fishing industry) as its justification for banning diving for scallops. This is like quoting the Daily Mail to justify immigration laws
cheers
dave
drysuitrepair.co.uk