Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust buys salmon netting station in major conservation move
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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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The nets, last operated in 2022, were previously owned by Graeme Sutherland, of Rosemarkie. for many years.
The practice of salmon net fishing involved using a curtain of netting and a coble to encircle the salmon and was generally carried out about two hours before or after high tide.
The purchase was achieved by mutual agreement with funding provided by Ness and Beauly salmon fishing proprietors, the Inverness Common Good Fund, Inverness Angling Club and angler donations through the Fishpal booking website.
Neil Cameron, chairman of N&BFT, said: “We have worked with the operators of the Seapark netting station for many years to get to this point.
“The acquisition of the salmon netting rights at Seapark represents a significant milestone for the conservation of salmon in the Inner Moray Firth.
“This deal will remove the threat of commercial exploitation, at a point so close to the mouth of the River Ness, for ever.
“We are working on many fronts to conserve and hopefully restore local salmon populations and the purchase of these netting rights has been an important part of our strategy.”
Frank Spencer-Nairn, a trustee of N&BFT, said the influential International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had recently reclassified Atlantic salmon in Scotland as “endangered”.
“It is vital that we safeguard, as far as is humanly possible, salmon on the final leg of their return journey to our rivers,” he said.
“Within the Beauly and the Ness, anglers have for many years been showing their conservation credentials by safely releasing almost all salmon they catch back into the water.
“The netting buyout will ensure that losses through human exploitation in the Inner Moray Firth are minimised as far as possible.”
The N&BFT is an environmental charity established to secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of both the Rivers Beauly and Ness and the native fish stocks within their catchments.
