IT WAS something of a catch for Scottish sea angling campaigners.   The lads from the Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network (SSACN) persuaded environment and rural affairs minister Richard Lochhead to join them yesterday for a spot of fishing in Luce Bay to mark the launch of the Government’s special report into the economics of sea…

SEA ANGLING  in Scotland is to have its first strategic development plan, environment minister Richard Lochhead pledged today. A working group will be set up within the next three months to examine how best to promote the sport –revealed in a major study published today to be be worth more than £140 million a year…

THE ORGANISERS of Sharkatag, the biggest single sea angling conservation exercise mounted in the UK, have just published their report on the event.  It makes interesting reading. The three-day tagging marathon held from 12-14 June in the western Solway area of south-west Scotland, was in itself an undoubted success, attracting more than 200 anglers from…

SHARK populations off Scotland’s south-west coast are now at a “critical low” angling conservationists warned today as results from last weekend’s massive tagging exercise were revealed. Some 215 volunteer anglers from all over the UK travelled to the Solway coast to take part in Sharkatag 2009, a three-day project to catch, tag and release various…

A STRONG Scotland sea angling team ran out deserved victors in this year’s Home Nations Boat Championships out of Scrabster, but were pushed all the way by a determined England squad in one of the closest contests in recent years, according to the Angling Trust. Scotland Team: Left to right: Dave Proudfoot, Bryce Watson, Mike…

ANGLERS IN Scotland have launched the country’s first comprehensive shark tagging programme in an effort to protect the many species of fish which are at risk of being wiped out in local waters. The move by grassroots conservationists seizes the initiative and exposes Government reticence to take immediate direct action, despite signing up last month…

FOR THOSE  of you who value the future of the Clyde and its once-famed angling estuary, there are a couple of dates this month to bear in mind. The first is on the May 19 in Lochgilphead and the second two days later in Campbeltown, both great locations, if only for a day out. But…

Around 200 volunteer sea anglers from all over the UK are expected in south-west Scotland in June for what is expected to be yet another record-breaking demonstration of dedication by the conservation-focused sportsmen and women.