CALLS FOR more care for rare native species of fish, and a ban on the introduction of more alien species were made at a conference in Birnam yesterday, writes angling correspondent Ken Bell.

More than 100 delegates at the annual conference of the Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland heard Peter Maitland of the Fish Conservation Centre speak of work done to save two species of fish—the vendace, which is now extinct in the only two Scottish lochs in which it occurred, and the powan.

He said vendace fry were taken from Cumbria and have been successfully introduced in Scotland.

He told the conference that since the species established itself in Scotland it has died out in Bassenthwaite in the Lake District, where some of the fry had come from.

Dr Maitland said powan from Loch Lomond, where it is under threat from ruffe, and Loch Eck have been introduced in Loch Sloy and another water, and are doing well in both.

Earlier, however, the conference heard from James Hunt of the Tweed Foundation, who believes there is little hope of the American signal crayfish ever being eradicated.

The conference heard trapping simply removes the large crayfish, which predate the smaller ones.

There are now so many alien signal crayfish in Loch Ken that fish numbers have dropped drastically, and the local economy has been adversely affected by the drop in visiting anglers.

The man who introduced several alien species— roach, rudd and tench—to the Spey system was identified by one speaker.

Bob Laughton of the Spey Research Trust, who investigated after anglers caught roach on a local loch, said they were introduced by the late Peter Braun, who thought Scotland did not have enough different species of fish.

But house owners who stock water features with fish such as golden tench, orfe and goldfish were also identified as introducing alien fish.