Sea lochs and people
On a coast where much of the land is relatively unproductive and rugged, the climate relatively inhospitable and the growing season short, sea lochs have long been used to glean a living from the sea and for transport and communication along the coast. A narrow fringe of more productive land around the edge of sea lochs has been important for grazing and growing crops. This subsistence farming, combined with in-shore fishing, supported numerous small communities until the Clearances in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when many people were moved out of their homes to make way for sheep. More recently, fish farming and tourism have become important sectors of this fragile economy. A clean and healthy marine and coastal environment is a vital part of the selling power of Highland produce.