The Helmsdale River Board are in total denial that there is a problem with overgrazing by sheep along the banks of the river. Trampled areas and accelerated erosion all leads to the silting up of spawning areas (this is a well documented problem backed up by extensive academic research). With salmon stocks in constant decline all rivers must do their utmost to protect stocks and keep habitat and key spawning areas in prime condition. Significant erosion and poaching of any land within 5 meters of any watercourse river or burn must be prevented, this is a SEPA regulation.

Two of the examples I used, there are many more...below is a disgraceful bombsite of overgrazed and trampled riverbank caused purely by sheep. I'm getting a little fed up of showing examples like these but nobody is listening.

Perfect buffer strip (fence) letting the riverbank regenerate free from the overgrazing of sheep.

The Open Board meeting had a poor turnout of approx 20 people of which 95% were Proprietors, and their employees. Incredibly, the only positive thing to come out of it all was that the board have invited me to come along and watch some electro fishing to see how that all works? The Board did say however that they are going to give locals a chance at more fishing in “January” which frankly they have good access to already. In the opinion of many, January should be open for local fishing anyway with 4 rods per beat minimum – the Association water which is 1 mile long has permission for around 60 local members + 12 visitor rods per day…What I want to know is the results of the electrofishing over the last 40 years, watching it happen is not going to help stocks. At what rate are juvenile salmon populations decreasing? when did electrofishing begin on the Helmsdale and what were the densities then and what does this tell us now, what effect is overgrazing having on habitat along the river, how is this affecting juvenile fish populations? Only when we know cumulative trends can we make educated decisions on management policy.

It is obvious that recent juvenile fish counts are not going to be remotely near counts of the past as in the early 1900s there were 2 hatcheries on the river restocking 1 million fly. Now we have one hatchery stocking only 160,00 fry. Couple this with a river left open to livestock access and all the damage they cause and you will find that electrofishing only tells us what we have in the burns now and not what levels used to be. What baseline data are we working from?

Then, step in special guest, the internationally renowned salmon geneticist of the rivers and lochs institute, professor Eric Verspoor who currently works with the University of the Highlands and Islands. Mr Verspoor was asked if he thought a 10 year research project on trying to find out what genetic return we get from the Helmsdale restocking programme was a good idea, his answer was that there has been a significant amount of money spent on a similar project on the Spey over the last 8 years and the results at are inconclusive at best and that the return of hatchery reared fish was minuscule. He intimated that regarding the Helmsdale river in his his opinion money could be better spent on other things but it was not his decision at the end of the day, that was up to the Board.

I agree with him and would say that if there are funds available Eric should be asked to consult on appropriate habitat restoration improvements which he believes would best suit the river and the genetics of our indigenous salmon stock. I believe he would be very forthcoming on this matter.

On the fishing front, and at the risk of sounding like a perpetrator of doom for most of this season, yet again there is not much to report. As an example, I have personally fished the Association water this week on numerous occasions to no avail and I have yet to see a salmon break the water or hook one this year here. The only action reported last week was a tough loss for Mick Buttery who hooked a heavy fish and lost it after a 20 minute battle.

The beats had around 20 with beat 6 giving 3 fish on 2 days. Water levels were good but have been unsettled to be fair with the river rising around 3 times in the week to over 1ft. There is a very distinct lack of fish running the river compared with many previous years and we don't need fish counter numbers or weekly catch stats to tell us that, just ask the ghillies and locals whose eyes are on the water every day.
Question is, what can we do about it?

The Governments "root and branch" Freshwater Fisheries Review is very timely and will result in radical changes for fishery management in Scotland, strangely this matter did not even make the Agenda of Board meeting!

You are now invited to have your say and are urged to do so. Please click here - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0044/00449300.pdf and give share your ideas on how you think rivers should be managed, who should run them and any other aspects you think that could be improved. Go to the bottom of the page on the link and click on the email address supplied.