news/editorial

22 May 2016 News/Editorial

Following on from the mid-week revelations (see Editorial dated 17 May headed “Stop Press”) in this column, I understand that the Gardo netting lessee, Michael Hindhaugh, has sought to justify his netting of Tweed springers by saying that the Scottish Government has given the Tweed Category 1 status, which means that a harvestable surplus of salmon can be taken ie killed.

This transparently self serving interpretation (he says he is committed to “sustainable “ fishing!) is incorrect, as the following will show.

The words actually used by the Government for those rivers given Category 1 status are these:

“Advice provided to District Salmon Fishery Board (ie the River Tweed Commission in the Tweed’s case) indicating that exploitation (ie killing) is sustainable therefore no additional management action is currently required. This recognises the effectiveness of existing non statutory local management interventions”

The underlinings are mine.

On the Tweed, one of the most important non statutory management interventions, on the basis of which the Government has granted Category 1 status, is that no spring salmon are killed by the nets until 15th June, or by the rods until 1st July.

All of which means that Michael Hindhaugh’s statement, from what one assumes is his company “The River Tweed Wild Salmon Company”, is profoundly wrong.

It is only because no nets (and, of course, no rods) have been, up to now voluntarily ie non statutorily, killing salmon before 15th June that the Tweed has been given full Category 1 status.

The same is true for other rivers such as the Tay, Spey and Dee who kill no spring salmon post 1st April, also by voluntary local management interventions.

Mr Hindhaugh started killing salmon, contrary to the RTC’s advices and longstanding local management interventions, on 13th May 2016.

He is, therefore, endangering the whole Category 1 status for the Tweed, because the basis on which the Government gave it, is no longer valid.

What the Government, on the RTC’s advice, choses to do about this, to remedy the situation, is anybody’s guess…..

But one hopes the RTC will ask the Government, before 2017:

(a) to remove Category 1 status for Tweed’s spring salmon stocks and make the Tweed Category 3 (no salmon to be killed by law) until at least 15th June annually, and

(b) not to issue tags to any commercial nets on the Tweed until 15th June annually.

All of which is a shame and unnecessary, if only everyone would abide by Tweed’s sensible and scientifically approved local management voluntary rules and interventions.

Everyone else on the whole Tweed system is abiding by them…..

except one man, in Berwick.