Fisheries Management In Scotland

Aquaculture Planning Training Meeting – 30’th Sept 2010

Managing Director - Assn Of Salmon Fishery Boards

Rivers & Fisheries Trusts of Scotland

Presentation

• The Atlantic Salmon In Scotland

• Catches & Stocks

• Recreational Fisheries In Scotland

• Scottish Fisheries Management Structures

• Aquaculture Impacts & Solutions

• Conclusions

The Atlantic Salmon In Scotland

Scottish Salmon Diversity

• Over 300 salmon rivers in Scotland – 80 major systems

• Hundreds of populations of fish

• 3 main runs of fish:

1. Spring run, multi-sea winter salmon (Jan-May)

2. Summer run, msw and 1 sw salmon (Jun-Aug)

3. Autumn run multi-sea winter salmon (Aug-Nov)

• Recognised ‘flagship’ species / biological indicator

• Scotland is a world stronghold of the Atlantic salmon – amongst the greatest abundance / greatest diversity

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700N

o o

f fi

sh

(0

00

's)

Year

Scottish All Methods Salmon Catch Scotland, 1952-2006

Source - SEERAD Statistical Bulletin

• 500,000 fish caught in Scottish nets in the late 1960’s

• 20,000 fish caught in 2008 (net and coble / fixed engine)

• Causes: - Conservation buy-outs

- Falls in salmon prices due to fish farming

- Less fish

Net Fisheries - Statistics

Problems Facing Atlantic Salmon Throughout Its Range

Freshwater

• Aquaculture

• Habitat degradation

• Angling exploitation

• Abstraction/impoundment

• Migratory access

• Water quality

• Acidification / Forestry

• Predation

Marine

• Aquaculture

• Stock exploitation

• By-catch

• Predation

• Marine habitat

• Shortage of prey species

Catches & Stocks

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

18000

No

of fi

sh

Year

Tweed, Rod Catch - 1947-2008Source - Tweed Commissioners

Post July 1

Pre July 1

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

14000

16000

No

of f

ish

Year

River Spey Rod Catch Statistics(Spring - yellow / Summer-Autumn - Blue)

1952-2008

Recreational Fisheries In Scotland

Socio-Economic Data

• Recreational angling season from January 12’th to November 30’th

• High social value – wide range of angling opportunity and costs

• Economic value of salmon angling - £90m / 2000 jobs (source Scottish Govt)

• Economic value of all angling - £126m / 2600 jobs

• Important employer and revenue generator in rural communities

Government Support

“Strategic Framework For Scottish Freshwater Fisheries”:

• “Road Map” for fisheries protection, governance and development over next 10 years

• Series of PFAs covering:

- Management and conservation (CoPs etc)

- Development of the sport

- Enforcement / Exploitation control (MSF review)

- Funding / Legislation / Governance

Scottish Fisheries Management Structures

ASFB

Scottish District Salmon Fishery Boards (DSFBs)

Association Of Salmon Fishery Boards (ASFB)

• ASFB is a trade association representing 42 District Fishery Boards

• Representation / Information flow in and out / Policy development / Lobbying / PR-Media / Legislation / Legal Advice

• 3 Staff. Director / Policy & Planning Director (new) / Administration (part -time) / PR-Media (part time)

District Salmon Fishery Boards

• 42 District Salmon Fishery Boards in Scotland

• Statutory powers - Covers salmon and sea-trout only

• Managed & run by salmon fishing owners / anglers

• Individual Boards funded by tax raised from owners on number of fish caught. Statutory powers to collect this tax. Raise £4m/annum - £40 / fish

District Salmon Fishery Boards (cont)

Boards powers:

• To protect fisheries from poaching – employ 250 river bailiffs

• To ensure free passage of fish

• To control fishing methods and seasons (rods and nets)

• To impose conservation measures (catch and release etc)

• To protect spawning grounds

Scottish Fisheries Management Structures

RAFTS

SCOTTISH FISHERIES TRUSTS & FOUNDATIONS

• Argyll Fisheries Trust • Ayrshire Rivers Trust • Clyde River Foundation • Cromarty Firth Fisheries Trust• River Dee Trust • River Don Trust• Deveron, Bogie and Isla Rivers Trust• Esk Fisheries Trust• Findhorn, Nairn & Lossie Fisheries Trust• Forth Fisheries Foundation• Galloway Fisheries Trust. • Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries Trust• Lochaber Fisheries Trust• Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust• Ness & Beauly Fisheries Trust• Spey Research Trust• Tweed Foundation• West Sutherland Fisheries Trust• Wester Ross Fisheries Trust• Western Isles Fisheries Trust

RAFTS

• Itself a charity

• 8 Staff – Director / Invasives Project Manager / Project Management Support / 3 Geneticists – FASMOP / 3 Mink eradication staff in North-East Mink Control Project

• Cover management and conservation of all fish species

• Turnover – approximately £1.5m / annum

• Funded by: membership / service level agreements / charitable trusts / project management income / grant in aid / fund-raising

Scottish Fisheries Trusts & Foundations

• 24 charitable research trusts (funding advantage)

• Cover management and conservation of all fish species

• Turnover – approximately £2m / annum

• Funded by: Fishery Boards / Public sector / Charitable Trusts / Fund-raising activity / Contract work / Project and partnership agreements / RAFTS

• Network of 45-55 fisheries biologists and managers

• Research and monitoring / educational programmes / management advice / project management / catchment based fisheries management planning

Aquaculture Impacts & Solutions

• Aquaculture is a controversial industry in Scotland for a variety of reasons. However, 2 issues are of clear priority to wild fisheries managers

A) Escapes

B) Sea-Lice / Disease management

• Industrial scale protein production will cause problems especially when its outputs are not contained.

Aquaculture Impacts & Solutions

• Compromising genetic integrity / disease / competition

• Wide variety of initiatives & Codes of Practice over many years but level of escapes still unacceptably high in both sectors

• New legislation and initiative by the industry may be starting to deliver results

• Problem with unattributed escapes (Garry / Shin / Loch Damph / Aline)

Escapes - Problems

• Not much that can be done about ‘Force Majeure’. Marine cage escapes likely in time to be brought under a degree of control.

• Limited number of levers for planners with the exception of freshwater smolt production where escapes present highest risk.

• Aquaculture Dialogue Process (WWF) moving towards closed containment in freshwater supporting different approach in Norway/Chile

• Solution – closed containment or relocation from sensitive sites

• Now looking at and using legal options (Loch Awe/Etive). At current levels of escapes obliged to object to new or expanded sites

Escapes - Solutions

• 2 species. One a host specific ecto-parasite that will cause mortality, particularly in post-smolts of salmon/sea-trout leaving rivers in May (analogy – sheep tick)

• Can present a significant bottleneck in migratory salmonid’s life cycle

• Naturally occurring but now host population several orders of magnitude bigger. Approx 100m fish in Scottish aquaculture. >1m wild migratory salmonids

• Agreements/targets of zero – 0.5 ovigerous lice /farmed fish but targets difficult to meet and threshold may be too high. Location critical to lice management – wild + farmed

Sea-Lice - Problems

• Can industry and wild fisheries live alongside each other? Maybe? Some evidence to support this (Loch Fyne / Loch Roag) . Two options: Lice management / Location

• Industry now proposing to expand significantly. New sites / larger sites. Problems at existing levels of production exist - so cause for concern

• Management - Industry managing lice to acceptable levels for their own management purposes, though resistance to treatments a source of concern. In some areas this is not adequate to ensure no impact on wild fisheries – particularly sea-trout.

Sea-Lice - Solutions

• Location/Relocation – Already been tried (Fyne / Roag / Sunart / Linnhe etc). It works – better lice management / improving stocks

• Need to develop a practical approach to assist planners based on acknowledged need for industry to expand. Win/win.

i) ID sensitive sites without fish farming – protect them ii) ID sites where impractical to relocate production –

management and production solutions (Roag/Fyne)iii) ID sites where strategic relocations could deliver best

benefits

• ID sites where industry could expand. Use industry expansion creatively to create opportunities to reduce impacts (planning gain). Requires industry acceptance and Government /planning support

Sea-Lice - Solutions

Example of how to do this:

• Loch Fyne – Major rationalisation of ownership and location of sites throughout Loch Fyne. Sensitive sites closed. Management much more rigorous. Results beginning to show.

Example of how not to do this:

• Broad Bay / W.Isles – Good working relationship with wild fisheries. Then highly provocative application for site affecting 3 rivers all managed and run by local community. Public petitions / legal threats / bad feeling

Sea-Lice - Solutions

Example of how we could do this:

• Loch Ewe – Sensitive site with economically important wild fishery now collapsed. Small discrete MH site. If expansion of industry into large offshore sites could result in closure of such sites. Industry gets its expansion. We get economic benefits of wild fisheries. Everybody happy. Industry currently not interested. Government currently not empowered.

Sea-Lice - Solutions

Conclusions

• Scotland, is a world stronghold of diversity and abundance of Atlantic salmon

• Despite problems with marine survival, the Scottish salmon resource is in a relatively stable condition – but care is needed

• Salmon and sea-trout fisheries in Scotland are of economic and biological consequence

• Stocks in West Highlands are smaller, more fragile and exposed to added problems

• Aquaculture can and is impacting some West Coast systems – not universally and different impacts on different species

• More than sufficient evidence and requirements to adopt precautionary risk based approach to ensure new developments do not compound this problem

Conclusions

• Modest strategic relocations currently looking like only solution to this problem. Could deliver economic benefits whilst allowing industry to expand

• Initiative underway to provide information to planners to adopt risk-based approach and to assist in delivering solutions

• Industry / Planners /Government / Wild fisheries managers need to agree and co-operate

• Planning process has a role, particularly with respect to location/zoning ,to ensuring Salmon farming in West Highlands can genuinely claim to meet criteria laid out in Strategic Framework

Conclusions

• Website: asfb.org.ukrafts.org.uk

• Email: andrew@asfb.org.uk

• Office address:ASFB / RAFTS 24 Canning StreetEdinburghEH3 8EGScotland, UK

Tel: 00 44 131 272 2797Fax: 00 44 131 272 2800

Contact Details