The latest round of funding designed to support wild salmon and sea trout in Scottish rivers is set to close to new applicants.
Directly financed by Scotland’s salmon farming companies, the Wild Salmonid Support Fund has made £1.5 million available over five years to tackle the decades-long decline of wild salmon and sea trout.
The latest round of funding opened in early February 2022, with £120,000 available to organisations that work to enhance and protect wild fisheries and conserve habitats. It follows the success of the fund’s launch in April 2021, when more than £70,000 was awarded to five river and fisheries trusts.
Organisations have been encouraged to request grants in the range of £10,000 and £35,000. The deadline for applications is Monday 21 March, and successful bids will be confirmed in the week commencing 23 May. Individual projects should be completed with 18 months of the project being awarded funds.
The Wild Salmonid Support Fund was established by Salmon Scotland in partnership with Fisheries Management Scotland, with the grants are administered by independent charity Foundation Scotland.
Salmon Scotland, Chief Executive, Tavish Scott, said the producers’ organisation and its member companies were pleased to be able to work with the wild salmon sector to offer these awards.
“Along with Fisheries Management Scotland, we recognise and share the concerns over the overall declining status of wild salmonids in Scottish rivers over recent decades. Scotland has a rich history of salmon resources, and this heritage is reliant on ensuring a long-term future for wild stocks.
“We are committed to the marine environment, and it is in our joint interests to ensure that the waters we share where salmon farms operate are as good an environment for wild fish as they can be.
“Investing in good science and nature restoration projects on Scotland’s rivers is extremely important and will benefit Scotland’s iconic wild salmon and sea trout. We look forward to seeing the results of projects that are already underway, and to welcoming new applications.”
Some of the projects awarded funding last year are underway, with progress being made around restoration, scientific research and education.
In 2021, Carloway Estate Trust was given £9,000 to help develop the river and loch system to encourage a healthy, strong and increased salmon population.
Beneficiary organisations also include Argyll Fisheries Trust, which was awarded £18,600 to invest in habitat restoration in the Dalvuie Burn near Oban, while the Lochaber Fisheries Trust received almost £20,000 to implement juvenile surveys to assess fish densities and genetic diversity in eight local rivers. A further £14,500 was awarded to Wester Ross Fisheries Trust, and £10,000 was given to Flow Country Rivers Trust.
The projects support a vast array of activities including scientific research and manual habitat restoration work in the shared connecting waters where the farm-raised salmon sector operates.
Mercedes Green, fund advisor at Foundation Scotland, explained that the fund only opens once per year, and said that with grants up to £35,000 available, it can “provide a real boost” for new and existing projects aimed at tackling the decline of wild salmon and sea trout in Scottish rivers.
“With the funding deadline fast approaching, we’re urging people to submit their applications as soon as possible,” she said.
