Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Anglers delighted as River Earn restrictions lifted

Salmon fishing in River Earn
Salmon fishing in River Earn

Anglers on the River Earn will be able take home some of the salmon they catch next year under revised river gradings.

The Earn had been subject to the most strident restrictions available – leading to local groups “haemorrhaging” members and “a perception the river was not worth fishing.”

But a change to the scientific model used to determined salmon stocks has led to the river being regraded, meaning anglers will no longer have to return everything they catch to the river during the coming year.

The proposed changes, on which the Scottish Government is now gathering views, comes after years of complaints from anglers, and the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board, that the model used by government was miscalculating salmon stocks on the river.

Environment secretary, and Perthshire South and Kinross-shire MSP Roseanna Cunningham, made the announcement on the banks of the River Earn yesterday.

“We are driven by the science. This is an objective assessment. I know that the anglers on the Earn will be extremely pleased.  I know it’s been an anxiety to them.

“We know that overall salmon numbers are declining. But we know that within that different rivers come up slightly differently so this year the Earn – where for the last few years people haven’t been able to take home a fish – is changing for this year.”

Environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham

Ms Cunningham said she was “particularly pleased” the river had been regraded.

“I await the publication of these draft regulations every year with great interest because I have a very local interest. It’s been tough the last few years, because I’m the government minister tasked with the responsibility for ensuring that we have as healthy a salmon stock in the whole of Scotland, but I’m also the local MSP for a very significant salmon river system.”

Gordon Taylor, secretary of the Crieff Angling Club, said the regrading was “wonderful” news for fishermen in the area and for those who travel to Perthshire for the sport.

“The club has been haemorrhaging members since the grading was introduced. I think we’ve lost between 25 to 30% of the membership in this period. This could allow us to rebuild.

“Most anglers want to take one fish home for the pot. It seems a little thing, but it’s very important.”

Dr David Summers, fisheries director, Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board, said the model previously used by government to calculate the grading on the Earn had not been fit for purpose.

“People are concerned about salmon stocks but the model that was used had some significant problems with it. With respect to the Earn, it was defective. So we have been making representations about that since the grading system was introduced and are happy to see some of our concerns have been answered.

“The previous grading created the perception that the river was not worth fishing and it does highlight how important it is that this model is as accurate as possible.

“We are pleased to see that the Scottish Government has progressed making changes to the model over time and, hopefully, it is now a fairer reflection of reality.”

The annual consultation on conservation of salmon measures – affecting 173 salmon rivers across Scotland – is published today. The public are now being asked to give their views on the proposed measures.