Picture by Stewart Cunningham
By Bill Heaney
Dumbarton constituency MSP Jackie Baillie’s interventions to protect salmon fishing on local rivers has been welcomed
Gareth Bourhill, Secretary of the Loch Lomond Angling Improvement Association (LLAIA), backed the politician’s efforts to protect fishing rights on the Endrick Water.
It came after the LLAIA opposed the Scottish Government’s bid to downgrade the conservation status of the waterway.
The government conducts an annual consultation, calling for feedback on the proposed conservation grades for Scottish rivers for the following year.
Waterways are handed one of three gradings from ‘good’ to ‘poor’ – based on the probability of a river meeting its ‘conservation limit’ – with the latter meaning tough consequences for anglers.
Management action is required on rivers graded as ‘poor’, which brings with it mandatory catch and release fishing, designed to reduce exploitation of salmon stocks.
But the LLAIA opposed the Scottish Government’s intended action in line with the proposed Conservation of Salmon (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2024.
The association disputed the Scottish Government’s catch data on which the decision was based, pointing out that many landowners who hold salmon fishing rights had failed to return catch data – against legislation.
Secretary Gareth Bourhill also claimed that LLAIA’s water bailiffs, who monitor some stretches of the river, had observed the landing of undeclared catches on the waterway.
Details of landowners with salmon rights were also submitted by the organisation, after it emerged that the Scottish Government’s data had been based on catch returns submitted by just three landowners – once of which was the association itself – since 2017.
Mr Bourhill believes that such a discrepancy is detrimental to the interests of members of the Loch Lomond Angling Improvement Association and alleged that the lack of data means Wild Salmon numbers published annually by the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate are misleading.
Despite a number of meetings with the Marine Directorate, the Scottish Government failed to act on the LLAIA’s concerns.
MSP Jackie stepped in to raise the LLAIA’s concerns with the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee last week, challenging Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, pictured left, Mairi Gougeon’s bid to seek approval of the salmon conservation gradings for the coming year.
She tabled a motion to annul the 2024 regulations.
The committee heard that almost half of all respondents to the Scottish Government’s consultation had concerns over how data was collected.
The Dumbarton constituency MSP said: “I was happy to raise this issue with the committee on behalf of local anglers who have highlighted their concerns, not for the first time, that the Endrick will be downgraded based on flawed data.
“This issue has been raised so many times before with the Scottish Government, it feels like groundhog day.
“This not only has consequences for the local angling community but also potentially for anglers across Scotland.
“The Endrick links directly to Loch Lomond and the River Leven, so if the Scottish Government is allowed to downgrade the conservation status of salmon fishing waters based on flawed data, it could have consequences elsewhere.”
The motion was defeated, however, anglers have expressed their thanks to Jackie Baillie for raising the issue.
Gareth Bourhill, LLAIA Secretary, said: “I hope this sends a message to the Cabinet Secretary and her advisors.
“I am grateful to Jackie Baillie for once again highlighting our concerns and raising the issue of what we believe to be flawed catch data, being used to justify downgrading the conservation status of these important waters.”
By Jackie Baillie MSP
Dame Jackie Baillie’s address to the committee: This is not the first time I’ve had to raise concerns from my local community about a similar set of regulations and in this context, I’ve been approached by the Loch Lomond Angling Improvement Association, an organisation in my constituency that, I believe, is approaching its centenary, so I think it’s safe to say they know the local rivers well.
“The Cabinet Secretary promised best use of the information and the data. We’ve been providing local information since 2016/17 but it doesn’t really appear to have been taken on board. Back in 2017, the issue again was the lack of data, the lack of evidence on which similar regulations were based and here we are, roll forward eight years, a new set of regulations, yet the problems with the lack of data remain.
“Loch Lomond Angling Association are not shy, they have been in dialogue with the government for a long time now, so to suggest that they aren’t providing information, I think, is slightly remiss.
“This was first raised by them back in 2016, there followed meetings with Marine Directorate officials, there followed letters to the Cabinet Secretary over the years, and most recently, the association had emailed officials about these regulations, which resulted in a meeting in October 2024. The Cabinet Secretary is aware I wrote to her on two occasions in November and December 2024 outlining their concerns, in the hope that they would be listened to and an amendment made to the regulations before publication.
“The Cabinet Secretary rightly talked about best evidence and data but the best evidence and data in this respect, is poor. The association report data on salmon catches on the stretches of Endrick Water in their ownership, until 2017 the Marine Directorate did not appear to have much knowledge of the fishery owners on other stretches of the Endrick. The association helped by supplying that information but it’s clear from the earlier evidence that the Marine Directorate don’t know all the fisheries that are operating and the data is therefore incomplete.
“Unfortunately, very few of the fishery owners are supplying catch information, despite this being an existing legislative requirement and I’m clear from the evidence that the committee have just heard that there is no enforcement action in place for those who don’t. An FOI revealed that in 2016, only two returns of catch data was submitted by fishery owners, one of them being the Loch Lomond Angling Improvement Association. In 2017, it was three – one of them being the association – so there are many more fishery owners on the Endrick and the Marine Directorate does not appear to have pursued them for catch data.
“The association also contest that nil catches were declared. The association’s water bailiffs have seen and recorded catches from other stretches of the Endrick not in the association’s ownership, where owners have declared nil returns. All of this information has been shared in great detail with the Marine Directorate since 2016, right up to date, but it doesn’t appear to have resulted in any substantial change.
“I am interested to know if there are any plans to put a counter on the Endrick, given the number of times I have to appear at this committee, making the case for local data. Convener, in summary I understand that 99 per cent of the fish recorded on the Endrick are returned but the poor grading of the Endrick means Loch Lomond itself, the River Fruin and the River Leven, which are classed as moderate, would drop to poor.
“That is the detrimental impact of having flawed data. In closing, I ask the committee to invite the Government to withdraw the regulations, they can resubmit them, removing the change to grading in the Endrick until they have evidence for that change, they can do so at pace, so as not to affect the provisions in the regulations that members support. They have done so with regulations in other circumstances in a matter of days.
“They should do the right thing here and withdraw the regulations but if they fail to do so, I hope the committee will support my motion to annul.”
Top of page: Salmon leaping at the Potts of Gartness on the River Endrick, Loch Lomond. Picture by Stewart Cunningham