Forth Fisheries Foundation

The SFCA were delighted recently to add Trustee status to the Forth Fisheries Foundation (FFF) in our growing public contribution on freshwater projects across Scotland. During their October meeting, Steve Clerkin was accepted as Trustee to the Foundation to represent SFCA in what FFF Chairman, Alex Fell, described as "tremendous support ensuring the Foundations interest in all species throughout the Forth were genuinely represented". He further welcomed the expertise of the SFCA as a "vital addition to the Trustees".

The Foundation was established on 18^th November 1999 and has registered charitable status with the principle purposes:

To conserve and protect for the public benefit the freshwater and riparian habitats of the Forth catchment used by migratory and other naturally occurring fish species.

To promote and undertake research on which to base a programme of habitat enhancement and as a basis for education for all persons interested in fisheries resources and for improving awareness of conservation issues.

The geographic area of activity will be the same as that covered by the Forth District Salmon Fishery Board and therefore includes the rivers Forth, Teith, Allan, Devon, Leven, Carron, Avon, Almond, Esk and Tyne. It is bounded by catchments of the Tay, to the north, to the south by the Tweed and to the west by the Clyde.

The SFCA have also participated in an initial development meeting to determine content and priorities of a 5 Year Strategic Plan. (A full copy of the Plan will be released on the FFF website at a later date). This half-day working session, led by Dr Colin Bull, (Executive Manager and Biologist to the Foundation) including representation from some 22 stakeholders from a broad range of local and national bodies, identified a principle set of 13 objectives/projects, which are also published in the Plan.

In what must surely be regarded as a true demonstration of a "habitats approach" where all species are regarded as of equal importance, the Plans highest priority and first two projects have specific importance for Scotland’s Coarse Anglers. The two projects are:

1. Assessing fish communities in stillwaters and deep river sections

2. Quantitative monitoring of stream fish communities

What does all this mean for the Coarse Angling community?

The key points of significance in these holistic approaches for Coarse Anglers are:

Game and Coarse species appear on the same agenda
Coarse fish are included in the overall fishery plans
The promotion, protection and conservation of Coarse species
Recognition for the growing importance of Coarse Angling as a community sporting pursuit
The SFCA will be directly involved in the project delivery

As soon as the full text of the plan is published (early November) we will provide a link to it from the SFCA site.

So, the challenge for the Foundation from here is to continue to secure funding in order to deliver on the Plan. Support so far is highly encouraging and it is no mistake that the Plan is highly aligned with the requirements of the Water Framework Directive and more locally, the Stirling Biodiversity Plan. This will enable the Foundation to attract financial contributions to deliver these Projects as the incumbent experts.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Foundation for this opportunity and we are both delighted and excited to be working on these groundbreaking and scientifically based plans. We look forward to the next 12 months with much anticipation.

Regards

Steve Clerkin - SFCA Secretary