River Almond 5 Year Management Plan

Aug 2009

The Consultation Draft has been formally distributed to the Forth District Salmon Fishery Board, The River Forth Fisheries Trust, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Crown Estates, Scottish Natural Heritage,  West Lothian Council and City of Edinburgh Council and it is our believe that “enhancing the River Almond through partnership” is the best way to set these improvements in motion.

A copy of the Management Plan is available to the general public and the Committee welcome any comments on it’s contents and strategy. It should be highlighted that the key element to the plan is documenting all the “Risks and Issues” and that a great deal of surveying is required to better understand these and drive accurate milestones, costs and benefits. Gaining a better understanding about our fish stocks, locations and density will help prioritise any remedial actions required.

A Copy of the Management Plan is available on our Links page.

31st May 2010

The first meeting of the Sub Management Group has been arranged for 31st May 2010, where members of the Club, SEPA, WLC, SNH and anglers from West Lothian will meet to review and sign off the Fisheries Management Plan.  Work is progressing around the Weirs project, funded by the SEPA Restoration Fund and as such we have produced a “draft” document detailing the Weirs and Obstructions across the catchment.  The document hasn’t been approved by the Sub Management Group yet, but I am willing to share this with our members, with a view to seeking feedback on the document.  If you would like a copy of this report, then please drop me an E Mail admin@fishforth.co.uk

2nd Aug 2010

One area the Management Plan is looking into is the “Barriers to Fish Migration”, the 1st phase of works started today with the engineers and hydrologists from Atkins Group surveying 10 obstructions on the main stem, with the surveying work completing on Wednesday 4th August.  The 1st phase has been funded by the SEPA Restoration fund and Project Managed by SEPA and it will determine what actions should be taken to ease migration.  A formal report will be produced and made available to club members for review and comment when available from Atkins.  The Sub Management Group have spent time with the surveyors and you’ll be glad to hear that so far there assessments have been pretty much a “common sense” approach.  The barriers being investigated are; Peggys Mill (Cramond Waterfall), Dowies Weir, Cliffton Hall Weir, Midcalder Weir, Rugby Club Weir, Cobbled Weir, Almond Valley Weir, Howden Bridge Weir, Kirkton Weir and the Seafield Weir.

The Sub Management Group have also been surveying the River, with several miles already completed, the aim here is to highlight any potential issues as well as map out the invasive species, Knotweed, Balsam and Hogweed.  The plan was to complete this by the end of the summer, but it is taking more time than we’d expected, so realistically we’re looking at the end of the summer of 2011.  All in all we’re making good progress, if you wish to get involved then please contact me on admin@fishforth.co.uk.

2011 Initiatives

Fish In The Classroom – Cramond Primary School (February & March 2011)

The Club, in conjunction with the River Forth Fisheries Trust and Stirling Council have arranged for the very successful “Fish In The Classroom” Project to be rolled out to Cramond Primary School.  It is hoped that next year (funding permiting) that we’ll be able to roll this out to further schools within the catchment.  The Hatchery was installed on Tuesday 22nd February, with Jo Girvan (RFFT Biologist) and Jim Madden (Club Treasurer) attending site.  Our thanks go to Davy Jones (Stirling Council), Patrick Fothringham (FDSFB), Jo Girvan (RFFT) and Fen Howieson for making this happen.  A great example of the Committee and Sub Management Group delivering a project that aims to enhance learning outcomes within Environmental Studies curriculum, as a result it is hoped that students will develop skills in science-based understanding leading to enhanced social and environmental responsibility.  The Trout were released into the Almond on the 24th March 2011 and the feedback from the school and children was excellent.  This is something we need to run on an annual basis.

Linn Burn Tidy Up (Keep Scotland Tidy) Sunday 20th March 2011

We arranged a tidy up on the Linn Burn, prior to the spring “Keep Scotland Tidy” campaign with our new neighbours West Lothian Angling Association (WLAA), West Lothian Council and the local Farmer (Richard Pollock).  West Lothian Council provided the skip, with all the debris from “fly tipping” cleared during the event.  This should make a big difference to the Gogar Burn and hopefully improve the water quality and access for Brown Trout.  As you’ll see from the picture below it was a fair old job, but the volunteers made light work of it.  Our thanks go to Fen Howieson for arranging this event with all the parties involved, it’s great to see yet another initiative coming from the Sub Management Group.

  

Linn Burn (Before)                                              Linn Burn (After)

Angler’s Monitoring Initiative (AMI) with The Riverfly Partnership (4th April 2011)

Thanks to Jim Madden (Club Treasurer) the Club has secured funding and has ran the Angler’s Monitoring Iniative on the River Almond.  The event was hosted by our partners the “Cramond Boat Club” on Monday 4th April 2011, it’s great to see so many people getting involved and we hope that this will be the start of increased monitoring across the catchment.  We had several Club Members attending, along with our neighbours from West Lothian Angling Association (WLAA), Jill Gillard (SEPA), Jo Girvan (RFFT) and Carly and Lesley-Anne from Heriot Watt.  Yet another initiative being delivered out of our Committee and Sub Management Group.

Linn Burn Tidy Up (Keep Scotland Tidy) Sunday 8th May 2011

Following on from our tidy up in March of the Linn Burn, there is one final assault required to clear the debris that has washed down from the initial blockage, I have arranged another trolley from West Lothian Council and Richard Pollock has agreed to assist again.  Thankfully, this isn’t as big a job as the last one, but once again many hands make light work and we’ll welcome our neighbours from West Lothian Angling Association on the day.  On completion we’ll make our way down to the confluence with the Gogar Burn, thus enabling unrestricted access to the Linn Burn.

    

Linn Burn (After)                                               What was removed !

River Almond Electro-fishing (July 2011)

We were very lucky to get 2 days of Jo Girvan’s (RFFT Biologist) time during July, the plan was to electro-fish for all 3 days, but unfortuanetly we haad to cancel the final day due to a pollution incident on one of the Districts other Rivers.  The results weren’t quite what we were expecting, but then again it’s good to have sampled some new sites and we’ll work with Jo regarding moving the surveys forward.