Scottish salmon farmers up support for wild fish projects

The ‘Wild Salmonid Support Fund’, which opens for applications today, will make an additional £120,000 available this year to help support a sustainable future for wild salmon and sea trout in Scottish rivers.

It is part of a five-year programme that will see £1.5 million invested in supporting the status of wild salmon and sea trout stocks in Scottish rivers and enhance wild fisheries.

Enhancing habitats

Aimed at tackling the decades long decline of wild salmon and sea trout, the fund invests in fisheries organisations that work to enhance and protect wild fisheries and habitats.

Created by Salmon Scotland (formerly the Scottish Salmon Producers’ Organisation) in partnership with Fisheries Management Scotland, and administered by Foundation Scotland, both the wild fisheries and farm-raised salmon industries have been delivering this work as part of each sector’s interests to support and conserve habitats.

The fund is financed directly by Scotland’s salmon farm companies, and last year more than £70,000 was awarded to five river and fisheries trusts after its launch in April. 

Beneficiary organisations included the Lochaber Fisheries Trust, which received almost £20,000 to implement juvenile surveys to assess fish densities and genetic diversity in eight local rivers.

Sea trout

Argyll Fisheries Trust was awarded £18,600 to invest in habitat restoration in the Dalvuie Burn near Oban, with the aim of improving the recruitment of sea trout in local waters.

A further £14,500 was awarded to Wester Ross Fisheries Trust, £10,000 was given to Flow Country Rivers Trust, and Carloway Estate Trust in the Western Isles received over £9,000. 

The projects support an array of activities including scientific research and manual habitat restoration work in the shared connecting waters where the farm-raised salmon sector operates.  

Organisations are encouraged to request grants in the range of £10,000 and £35,000 before the application period closes on Monday, March 21, with a decision to come in the week commencing May 23. Individual projects should be completed with 18 months of the project being awarded funds. More information is available here.

Rich heritage

Salmon Scotland chief executive Tavish Scott said: “Along with Fisheries Management Scotland, we recognise and share the concerns over the overall declining status of wild salmonids in Scottish rivers over recent decades.

“Scotland has a rich history of salmon resources and this heritage is reliant on ensuring a long-term future for wild stocks.

“We are committed to the marine environment, and it is in our joint interests to ensure that the waters we share where salmon farms operate are as good an environment for wild fish as they can be.

Science and restoration

“Investing in good science and nature restoration projects on Scotland’s rivers is extremely important and will benefit Scotland’s iconic wild salmon and sea trout.

“We look forward to welcoming applications and seeing the results of these projects that are already under way.”

 Mercedes Green, fund advisor at Foundation Scotland, said the organisation was looking forward to awarding additional funding on behalf of Salmon Scotland.

“Some of last year’s funded projects are well under way and already reporting progress and positive impacts in scientific research, restoration and education,” added Green.

Coastal stream

Alan Kettle-White, senior fisheries biologist at Argyll Fisheries Trust, said money from the Wild Salmonid Support Fund was enabling the Trust to improve habitat for sea trout spawning in a coastal stream.

“The funding has allowed us to make improvements to these smaller streams, where funding is usually very hard to find.”

Kenneth J MacLennan, chair of Carloway Estate Trust, said the grant received from the fund to reinstate and increase salmon redds (where salmon lay their eggs) was the first step towards the Trust’s aim of developing the river and loch system to encourage a healthy, strong and increased salmon population.

“We found the administration of the grant from application till the present to be very efficient and would consider applying again to what is a very worthwhile fund,” said MacLennan.