Fishing for the truth about angling in Scotland
RELATIONS between wild game fishing interests and the Scottish Government over fish farming controls have suffered another reverse with the collapse of a key agreement set up to try to establish peace between the salmon industry and anglers.
Continue ReadingIT SEEMED, on the face of it, a fairly innocuous conversation. We were sitting in the conservatory of the Borrodale Hotel on South Uist enjoying one of the chef’s substantial stomach-lining breakfasts in readiness for what was likely to be a fairly challenging day ahead. Outside, the wind gusted to 35 mph and huge droplets…
Continue ReadingTUNE in tonight to BBC-2 where David Attenborough takes a long, hard look at the state of the planet’s oceans following one of the most ambitious scientific studies of our time and asks the question: Is it too late to save the diversity of our seas? Meanwhile, Scotland’s environment minister, Richard Lochhead, has signalled a…
Continue ReadingSALMON, wild and farmed, crept on to the menus two of the Sunday papers this week. The Sunday Herald’s environment editor Rob Edwards reported on an alleged pesticide incident in which it was said that thousands of farmed salmon had been killed by an accidental overdose on a Shetland site. The story claims environmental protection…
Continue ReadingTHE LAWYER behind the recent high-profile success of Fish Legal in campaigning against fish farm escapes and Scottish Water pollution incidents has been hired by the Salmon & Trout Association (S&TA) to lobby the Government and politicians in the on-going battle for sustainable aquaculture.
Continue ReadingIT started out as a simple cycle run from Glasgow to Kirkintilloch along the towpath of the Forth and Clyde canal. A glorious day we thought, and a chance for an easy pedal with the occasional opportunity to find out how the regular small groups of anglers were faring in the bright sunshine. For the…
Continue ReadingTUNE in at 8:30 tonight to BBC-1’s Panorama when reporter Richard Bilton gets his teeth into the background behind the parlous state of fishing in the Clyde estuary. He talks to Professor Callum Roberts, co-author of the recent damning scientific report on over-fishing, as well as Howard Wood chairman of COAST, the Community of Arran…
Continue ReadingIT all started simply enough. Difficulty in seeing the end of the fly rod never mind a head-and-tail rise 40 metres away, meant it was time for a new pair of glasses. That’s when the trouble started, as the next episode of Not Exactly Fishing reveals.
Continue ReadingInshore creelers petition for 3-mile trawler ban COMMERCIAL fishing in the Clyde estuary is on the verge of extinction according to an alarming report just published by scientists. The study blames dredging and bottom trawling combined with ineffectual fisheries management by successive governments for precipitating what they call an “ecological meltdown.”
Continue ReadingFURTHER evidence of healthy grilse and salmon runs emerges from Sutherland where the Oykel produced a record-breaking return for July with a staggering 730 fish. In a month of fluctuating spates producing near-perfect conditions, 12 rods accounted for 286 fish between July 12 and 17 alone. Richard Donkin’s entertaining blog has more details. Of course…
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