An environmental charity has bought the salmon netting rights along a stretch of shoreline in Inverness in a bid to protect salmon numbers.

In what is described as a landmark conservation move, the Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust (N&BFT) has bought the salmon netting rights at Seapark to the east of the Inverness Caledonian Thistle Stadium.

The Atlantic salmon in Scotland has been reclassified as an endangered species and the buyout is intended to help future-proof numbers by removing the threat of commercial exploitation close to the mouth of the River Ness.

The trust, which has bought the netting rights for an undisclosed sum, does not intend to use them except for possible scientific purposes in the future.

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