Yesterday Scottish Ministers 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 River Leven (Loch Lomond) and Endrick Water SAC are now confirmed as Cat 2 for season 2019
Gradings are assessed as the chance that the salmon stock reached its conservation limit target during each of the last 5 years (2013-2017) Grade 1 is awarded where the 5 year average is over 80%; Grade 2 = 60-80%; Grade 3 less than 60%.
It should be noted that the River Leven’s average was 86% which should have taken it into the Cat 1 category along with the Loch. However, if a Special Area of Conservation water is located within a catchment then the complete system is assessed the same as the SAC. In the Lomond system’s case the Endrick Water SAC’s 5 year average was 76.9% = Cat 2, hence River Leven (Loch Lomond) also graded Cat 2
Full details can be found at:
https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Salmon-Trout-Coarse/fishreform/licence/status
Individual gradings can be found at:
https://scotland.shinyapps.io/sg-salmon-conservation/
JR
