Fisheries Management Scotland would like to thank anglers and fisheries proprietors for their efforts in reporting escaped farmed fish. 66 fish have now been reported to Fisheries Management Scotland, but we know that this is an underestimate of the total number of fish caught to date.
Following feedback that we have received, we would like to emphasise the following points:
- Escaped farmed fish do not form part of the calculation of rateable values for salmon fisheries in Scotland. Reporting farmed salmon will therefore not lead to an increase in rateable value of your fishery. It is important that these fish are reported to Fisheries Management Scotland.
- It is important that, in addition to reporting these fish to Fisheries Management Scotland and the Fish Health Inspectorate, that all farmed fish caught are reported to Marine Scotland in your annual catch return. Escaped fish are reported separately and do not contribute to the wild salmon catch statistics.
- Marine Scotland Science do not include farmed salmon in the annual conservation assessments.
- Marine Scotland do not consider the killing of farmed fish on a Category 3 River to be a breach of the 2016 Conservation regulations.
Guidance on capture of escaped farmed fish
Guidance for anglers on identification of farmed fish
We are requesting that anglers take scale samples for all fish caught whether farmed or wild – for information on how to take scale samples please see here.
Scales should be stored in paper packaging (e.g. wrapped in kitchen roll or in a paper envelope) until delivery to Ayrshire Rivers Trust. It is important that scales are not stored in plastic nor dried on a direct heat source. Scales should be posted to, or dropped off at:
Ayrshire Rivers Trust Office,
1 Gibbsyard
Auchincruive Estate
Ayr
KA6 5HW