Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Call for urgent action over “plummeting” fish stocks

Post Thumbnail

Plummeting stocks of salmon and sea trout have sparked fears for the future of the lucrative angling industry.

The sport supports about 2,800 jobs across Scotland, and is worth around £113million a year to the national economy.

Concerns have been raised by river gillies, boatmen, bailiffs and anglers, who say catches have “dipped alarmingly” in the last two years.

And they are urging the government to adopt a quota system for 2015 to help conserve fragile stocks.

The Scottish Gamekeepers Association has set up a new fishing campaign arm to tackle the problem.

Spey gillie Ian Gordon said: “Wild fish need all the help they can get and it is clear that lack of action is no longer an option.”

He added that the views of professional gillies and river keepers had been ignored for too long and said the Scottish Government should look at introducing quotas through a tagging system in time for next season.

Mr Gordon said: “By applying quotas that everyone is bound by, the government can ensure that conservation measures are targeted and only what is harvestable is taken.”

Colin Espie, a Deeside gillie for 40 years who is a member of the new group, said: “With the current drop in spring catches, in particular, something needs to be done and people need to speak up now to help the situation.”

Poor survival at sea, seal predation and high mortality caused by lice infestations have all affected Scottish salmon and sea trout numbers.

The new group believes the government could help the industry and ease tension between anglers and netsmen by applying quotas through a tagging system.

Environment Minister Paul Wheelhouse said the government placed a high value on conservation of wild Scottish salmon and other wild fish stocks.

He said: “That is why we instigated an independent review of wild fisheries earlier this year. The review will report very soon and I will consider the recommendations made and consult further on firm policy propositions in due course.

“Meanwhile, I have taken the view that the protection of the spring stocks cannot wait for that work to be completed.

“I announced earlier this month that I will consult on statutory measures to replace and enhance the voluntary practices on catch and release and the cessation of netting, that has been in place in previous years across Scotland.”