Argyll District Salmon Fishery Board

The Argyll District Salmon Fishery Board recently submitted a response to the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee regarding salmon farming in Scotland.

RECC response 260418 ADSFB

The Argyll District Salmon Fishery Board are one of the many organisations supporting  Salmon and Trout Conservation Scotland who are calling for an immediate moratorium on any new open cage marine salmon farms in Scotland or any expansion of existing sites.

The call is supported by a wide cross section of 27 environmental NGOs and other bodies including Friends of the Sound of Jura which last month gave compelling evidence at the ongoing Scottish parliament’s inquiry into the environmental impacts of salmon farming.

Scottish Ministers have today laid regulations in the Scottish Parliament setting out the provisions which will regulate the retention and killing of Atlantic salmon in Scottish waters for the 2019 fishing season.  The new gradings will come into effect from 1 April 2019.

The 2019 season is the fourth year for which the Scottish Government has made conservation assessments and you may recall that we consulted on the proposed river gradings in October last year.  A total of 39 representations were received and Ministers have considered all of these carefully. 

Following that consideration Ministers believe that the gradings proposed remain valid, subject to one change for the North Harris SAC which has risen from Grade 3 to Grade 1.  In addition, the new regulations remove Regulation 3(2A) which was introduced in April 2017 to set specific catch and release requirements with regard to the Rivers Ness and Moriston.  Both rivers are assessed at Grade 1 for 2019 and therefore this provision is no longer required.

Further detail on the outcomes of the consultation, and a table showing the gradings for all 173 rivers and assessment groups for the 2019 season can be found at the Marine Scotland website https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Salmon-Trout-Coarse/fishreform/licence/status

The Regulations themselves can be found at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2019/56/contents/made

The next ADSFB meeting will be held at 1pm on 19th October 2016 at the Loch Fyne Hotel, Inveraray.

These will take place on Wed 27th April at 11.30am at the Inveraray Inn (previously called the Argyll Hotel) in Inveraray. The agenda can be downloaded from our meetings page. Please notify us if you wish to attend so that the correct number of lunches can be ordered.

This will be held at 1pm on Thurs 29th October 2015 at Fasnacloich, near Appin. The minutes will be published here following the meeting.

These will be held at 1pm on Wed 22nd April 2015 at the Loch Fyne Hotel, Inveraray, PA32 8XT. The agenda will be available here from 15th April.

The date of Wednesday 22nd April 2015 has been proposed for the ADSFB 2015 AGM and Annual Public Meeting.

The minutes from the ADSFB Board meeting held on 22nd October 2014 are now available on our publications page.

The minutes from the AGM and Annual Public Meeting held on 22nd April 2014 are now available on our publications page. The 2013 Annual Report, which was presented at those meetings is also available there.

The agendas for the Annual Public Meeting and Annual General Meeting, both to be held on Tues 22nd April from 1pm, are now available on our meetings page.