Galloway Fisheries Trust

Galloway Fisheries Trust Projects

The GFT runs a number of focused projects aimed at restoring and protecting local native fish stocks and their habitats. Please see below for some examples.

Conservation of Atlantic Salmon in Scotland (CASS) Project

In 2005 the River Bladnoch, Tarf Water and key spawning tributaries were designated as a "Special Area of Conservation" (SAC) by the European Union for its internationally important population of Atlantic salmon.

Conservation of Atlantic Salmon in Scotland (CASS) Project

In August 2004, an application for funding for the Bladnoch as part of a larger EU LIFE project entitled "Conservation of Atlantic Salmon in Scotland" (CASS) which covered 8 SAC rivers, was accepted by the European Union. Half of the cost of the project was met by LIFE, the EU financial instrument assisting with the conservation of natural habitats and species under the Natura 2000 network, with the remainder covered by Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Government, GFT, Forestry Commission (Scotland) and the Bladnoch District Salmon Fishery Board.

Atlantic salmon

The CASS project was focused towards conserving and enhancing Atlantic salmon. The project was the single largest salmon conservation project ever undertaken in Scotland and had a budget of over £3m. The 8 rivers involved in the project hold nearly 40% of Scotland's Atlantic salmon resource.

On the Bladnoch, extensive works worth around £300,000 were completed between 2004 and 2008. The project involved undertaking a detailed monitoring and research programme covering water quality analysis, egg box experiments, analysis of scale samples, electrofishing/habitat surveys and extensive research of the smolt population.

Denil fish pass on the Polbae Dam

A wide range of practical enhancements were completed across important spawning and juvenile nursery areas. Instream and riparian enhancement works included:

1. The planting of deciduous trees over 21 km of river bank.
2. Fencing off 5.5 km of overgrazed banks.
3. Control of excessive erosion along 500 m of river bank.
4. Improving 36,000 m² of instream fish access and habitat through rock placement and removal of blockages from the watercourses.

A hatchery programme focusing on the headwaters of the catchment was undertaken. Between 2004 and 2008, almost 300,000 salmon fry were stocked into the Bladnoch catchment.

Other improvements include approximately 39 Ha of coniferous plantations being clearfelled and chipped, in order to improve water chemistry and the adjacent riparian habitat.

The last remaining netting rights on the River Bladnoch were also secured by the River Bladnoch District Salmon Fishery Board on a 99 year lease as part of the CASS project. The Kirwaugh net fishery had an annual average catch of 375 salmon per season, which included the capture of spring salmon. The lease of these rights will now allow more salmon to return to the river to spawn.

For more information see www.snh.org.uk/salmonLIFEproject/.

Sulwath Connections

The GFT has recently completed two parallel three year projects delivering habitat improvements across seven river catchments. GFT was part of a large partnership which completed various projects on the coastlands and river valleys of Dumfries and Galloway named the 'Sulwath Connections Landscape Partnership'. The area this partnership covered ranged from Stranraer in the west to Langholm in the east. GFT, alongside many of the other partners, were working towards this funding goal for over 4 years and were delighted when the partnership was awarded funding under the Heritage Lottery Fund Landscape Partnership scheme. The overall budget of the whole project was over £3.9 million for the region, with funding through various partners including significant funding awarded by SNH.

The Whitshield Burn with the hanging culvert removed, Border Esk

Projects in the partnership were linked in some way to the landscape and covered such projects as Bruce's Trail, conservation of historic churchyards, riparian and instream habitat management, footpath creation and disabled angling access. The GFT project, Galloway Bankside Habitats, encompassed habitat improvement work on the Piltanton Burn, Rivers Luce, Cree, Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire Dee and Urr. The Trust also managed a project on the Scottish side of the Border Esk entitled the Esk Riparian Management Project with was part funded by the Environment Agency (EA).

Trees and guards on the Crogo Burn, River Urr

The Galloway Bankside Habitats Project, with an overall spend of £185,000, managed to deliver:

Installation of riparian fencing on 5 rivers in 11 separate areas, a total of 9650 m
Native deciduous tree planting on 2 rivers in 6 separate areas, a total of 1300 m
Overshading riparian scrub clearance on 2 rivers in 2 areas, a total of 5000 m
Bankside stabilisation on the Luce over a total of 80 m
Long term retention coniferous plantation brashing on 2 rivers in 2 areas over 800 m
Instream blockage and excessive debris removal on 4 rivers at 6 separate locations
Naturally seeded conifer regeneration removal on the Penkiln Burn over 2000 m
Geomorphology survey of the lower Urr to assess problematic gravel movement and accumulation
Coniferous forestry felling on an inaccessible island on the Cree catchment
Easement of fish passage over 2 problematic structures on 2 rivers
Coppicing of deciduous trees in overshaded areas of the Fleet, over 2500 m
Addition of rock to improve previously dredged instream sections on 2 rivers in 2 locations
Installation of 6 interpretation panels on 6 rivers
Carried out Salmon in the Classroom project in 11 schools over 3 years
Completed pre and post electrofishing surveys at various work locations on 6 rivers

Alterations to the Hagg Burn bridge apron allowing easier fish passage, Border Esk

On the Border Esk the primary objective of the project was to ease fish passage over 4 problematic obstacles, with the aim of improving passage to sea trout to smaller tributaries of the river. This project had a smaller budget of £70,000 and managed to deliver the following practical works:

Easement over a hanging bridge apron on the Whitshield Burn
Easement over a stepped bridge apron on the Billholm Burn
Easement over an old weir structure on the Billholm Burn
Easement over a wide bridge apron on the Hagg Burn
Addition of baffles through a long, narrow, sloped culvert on the Hagg Burn
Widening of the available channel capacity on a section of the Billholm Burn where the burn had been very restricted by a double wall structure
Long term retention coniferous plantation brashing on the Glenzier Burn
Installing riparian fencing on the Glenzier Burn, over 880 m

Rock placement in the Coom Burn, Kirkcudbrightshire Dee

All this work carried out in the two projects would not have been possible for GFT to complete without the funding that the Sulwath Connections Partnership was awarded from HLF, SNH, the EA and several other contributors. Although GFT did not take on extra staff to carry out this work, which included completing the complex claiming procedures, we managed to successfully deliver the project and believe that all the work carried out was essential and will have helped improve and enhance the instream and riparian habitats in seven river catchments.

For more information on other work in the Sulwath Connections project see www.sulwathconnections.org.

Overshading gorse removal on the Chlenry Burn, Piltanton Burn

Galloway Fisheries Trust

Fisheries House, Station Industrial Estate, Newton Stewart, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. DG8 6ND
Telephone: 01671 403011 Fax: 01671 402248 E-mail: mail@gallowayfisheriestrust.org
Scottish Registered Charity No. SC020751