Dee District Salmon Fishery Board Annual General Meeting October 4 th 2012

Ulcerative Dermal Necrosis ? Causative Agent History of UDN on the Dee Monitoring Results

Ulcerative Dermal Necrosis ? What it is not – Fungus / Saproleggia Implications for the Dee - Previous outbreaks Biosecurity - Precautionary approach Future Work - Joint project with other rivers, Marine Scotland Science & Vets from Institute Of Aquaculture

Abstraction Study Aims: To independently assess the impact of the two main abstractions on the Dee on juvenile and adult Salmon, Freshwater Pearl Mussels and Otters, now and in the future.

Abstraction Study Summary of the Findings 1.Current abstraction levels at Invercannie are not significantly impacting the ecology of the Dee. 2.The abstraction from Inchgarth is downgrading the Dee from Good to Moderate ecological status 3.The problem will get worse over time – not due to population pressure but climate change causing lower summer river levels. 4.Proper drought planning needs to take place now, along with better strategic planning to examine water storage and usage.

LIFE Project = Four Year Project to Restore the Dee With £2.6 million Investment

LIFE Project - Deliverables Upper Dee Riparian Scheme70 km of riverbank protected with the creation of 457 ha of new riparian woodland Diffuse Pollution45 km of buffer strips on the Dinnet, Tarland, Dess & Feugh Physical River Restoration8 sites throughout the catchment Dee in the Classroom40 schools

FishDee 2012 Fishermans Package Customer Feedback Beat Films Going Live Social Media Utilised FishDee Blog

FishDee 2012 Website Revamp Significant revenue increase Over 90% of all rods let Traffic > 2.5 million hits Improved Imagery Top FishPal Franchise for revenue-It works !

Fishery Protection Changes to the bailiff team. Slight drop in poaching activity compared to last season. Continue to be well supported by Grampian Police. Joint night work operations, and continued information exchange. 24hr “hot line” react to all poaching and pollution incidents. Please report all suspicious occurrences that may be linked to poaching or pollution

Planning & Consultations Planning Applications, CAR Licence applications and requests for information. Detailed comments on 12 planning applications or Consultations. Large scale works at Aberdeen Harbour & Bay. Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, Blairs footbridge. Helped beats with proposed bank repairs.

Ranunculus In September 2009 DDSFB accurately mapped the distribution of Ranunculus using 910 sections between Dess and Aberdeen. Trials to control Ranunculus by hand pulling proved slow and spectacularly unsuccessful. Survey repeated in September 2012 shows an increase in presence of Ranunculus to 68% of the sections and an increase in density. In partnership with Spey, Don, SNH and SEPA looking at all management options.

Stocks Spring catches Upper Dee Stocks 2012: 1852 salmon

Annual Catches: Feb-Sep Salmon Sea trout 2011: 7803 salmon 2011: 1826 sea trout

Diffuse Pollution & Buffer Strips 4 SRDP applications supported this year (Dee main stem, Feugh, Cattie and Gairn) => 15 km of new buffer strips & managed water margins

Invasive Non Native Plants

Cowie & Carron project 2011: Volunteers trained Summer 2012: Stem injection of Japanese knotweed and cutting of Himalayan balsam Supported by the River Restoration Fund

Another LIFE project... Invasive Species Action (ISA Scotland): Working with volunteers to tackle multiple invasive species in Scotland Project Aims: To eradicate invasive plants along 45 km of river bank on Dee, Cowie & Carron Continue mink control Produce best practice manual for invasive plants control 18 Fishery Trusts, project lead by RAFTS. Dee project cost £289,966

www. riverdee.org.uk