Transcript Fisheries Management In Scotland

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
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The Atlantic Salmon In Scotland
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Catches & Stocks
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Recreational Fisheries In Scotland
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Scottish Fisheries Management Structures
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Aquaculture Impacts & Solutions
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Conclusions
The Atlantic Salmon In Scotland
Scottish Salmon Diversity
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Over 300 salmon rivers in Scotland – 80 major systems
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Hundreds of populations of fish
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3 main runs of fish:
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Spring run, multi-sea winter salmon (Jan-May)
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Summer run, msw and 1 sw salmon (Jun-Aug)
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Autumn run multi-sea winter salmon (Aug-Nov)
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Recognised ‘flagship’ species / biological indicator
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Scotland is a world stronghold of the Atlantic salmon –
amongst the greatest abundance / greatest diversity
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Scottish All Methods Salmon Catch
Scotland, 1952-2006
Source - SEERAD Statistical Bulletin
600
No of fish (000's)
500
400
300
200
100
0
Year
Net Fisheries - Statistics
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500,000 fish caught in Scottish nets in the late 1960’s
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20,000 fish caught in 2008 (net and coble / fixed engine)
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Causes:
- Conservation buy-outs
- Falls in salmon prices due to fish farming
- Less fish
Problems Facing Atlantic Salmon Throughout Its Range
Freshwater
Marine
• Aquaculture
• Aquaculture
• Habitat degradation
• Stock exploitation
• Angling exploitation
• By-catch
• Abstraction/impoundment
• Predation
• Migratory access
• Marine habitat
• Water quality
• Shortage of prey species
• Acidification / Forestry
• Predation
Catches & Stocks
Tweed, Rod Catch - 1947-2008
Source - Tweed Commissioners
18000
16000
14000
No of fish
12000
10000
Post July 1
8000
Pre July 1
6000
4000
2000
0
Year
River Spey Rod Catch Statistics
(Spring - yellow / Summer-Autumn - Blue)
1952-2008
16000
14000
12000
No of fish
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Year
Recreational Fisheries In Scotland
Socio-Economic Data
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Recreational angling season from January 12’th to
November 30’th
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High social value – wide range of angling opportunity
and costs
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Economic value of salmon angling - £90m / 2000 jobs
(source Scottish Govt)
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Economic value of all angling - £126m / 2600 jobs
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Important employer and revenue generator in rural
communities
Government Support
“Strategic Framework For Scottish Freshwater Fisheries”:
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“Road Map” for fisheries protection, governance and
development over next 10 years
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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
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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 Impacts & Solutions
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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.
Escapes - Problems
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Compromising genetic integrity / disease / competition
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Wide variety of initiatives & Codes of Practice over many years
but level of escapes still unacceptably high in both sectors
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New legislation and initiative by the industry may be starting to
deliver results
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Problem with unattributed escapes (Garry / Shin / Loch Damph
/ Aline)
Escapes - Solutions
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Not much that can be done about ‘Force Majeure’. Marine cage
escapes likely in time to be brought under a degree of control.
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Limited number of levers for planners with the exception of
freshwater smolt production where escapes present highest
risk.
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Aquaculture Dialogue Process (WWF) moving towards closed
containment in freshwater supporting different approach in
Norway/Chile
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Solution – closed containment or relocation from sensitive
sites
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Now looking at and using legal options (Loch Awe/Etive). At
current levels of escapes obliged to object to new or expanded
sites
Sea-Lice - Problems
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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)
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Can present a significant bottleneck in migratory salmonid’s
life cycle
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Naturally occurring but now host population several orders of
magnitude bigger. Approx 100m fish in Scottish aquaculture.
>1m wild migratory salmonids
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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 - Solutions
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Can industry and wild fisheries live alongside each other?
Maybe? Some evidence to support this (Loch Fyne / Loch
Roag) . Two options: Lice management / Location
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Industry now proposing to expand significantly. New sites /
larger sites. Problems at existing levels of production exist - so
cause for concern
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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
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Location/Relocation – Already been tried (Fyne / Roag / Sunart /
Linnhe etc). It works – better lice management / improving stocks
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Need to develop a practical approach to assist planners based on
acknowledged need for industry to expand. Win/win.
i)
ii)
iii)
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ID sensitive sites without fish farming – protect them
ID sites where impractical to relocate production –
management and production solutions (Roag/Fyne)
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:
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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:
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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:
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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.
Conclusions
Conclusions
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Scotland, is a world stronghold of diversity and abundance of
Atlantic salmon
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Despite problems with marine survival, the Scottish salmon
resource is in a relatively stable condition – but care is needed
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Salmon and sea-trout fisheries in Scotland are of economic
and biological consequence
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Stocks in West Highlands are smaller, more fragile and
exposed to added problems
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Aquaculture can and is impacting some West Coast systems –
not universally and different impacts on different species
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More than sufficient evidence and requirements to adopt
precautionary risk based approach to ensure new
developments do not compound this problem
Conclusions
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Modest strategic relocations currently looking like only
solution to this problem. Could deliver economic benefits
whilst allowing industry to expand
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Initiative underway to provide information to planners to adopt
risk-based approach and to assist in delivering solutions
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Industry / Planners /Government / Wild fisheries managers
need to agree and co-operate
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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
Contact Details
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Website:
asfb.org.uk
rafts.org.uk
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Email:
[email protected]
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Office address: ASFB / RAFTS
24 Canning Street
Edinburgh
EH3 8EG
Scotland, UK
Tel: 00 44 131 272 2797
Fax: 00 44 131 272 2800