Since regular electro-fishing began we have recorded three straight years of good juvenile numbers at Deanich. This demonstrates that Catch & Release works and the man made dam up at Glen Beag, is the only upstream migration obstacle.
The major freshwater measure for a sustainable increase in smolt output is habitat repair in the form of free migration at Glen Beag and increased feed levels into the river. The small government built Hydro dam at Glen Beag diverts water through a tunnel to another glen. But there is water in the tunnel only on an occasional ad hoc basis, dependent on weather and season. This erratic energy contribution is probably smaller than that of a modern windmill. Free passage for trout and salmon could have been allowed and would to-day be mandatory. Unfortunately, legislation does not yet insist on repairing yesterday’s mistake. The local proprietor at the time Sir Charles Ross, was against a fish pass.
Sir Charles came from a lowland Paisley family who had ousted the head of the Ross clan from Balnagown Castle and lands when the chieftain got into financial straights. He perhaps believed anglers would upset his grouse and he certainly liked things his way. I’m told a letter survives from his QC reading “….the sporting season is over, the litigation season is about to begin, may l have your instructions?”
A modern scientific review concludes that remembered redds above the dam and the excellent nursery area below, some 10 Kms in all, can provide a significant boost to smolt output. Sir Charles has created a unique situation with limited intermittent water extraction unnecessarily preventing quantity smolt output of particular value. For smolts from this temperature altitude are likely to return as Springers, the sub species most in decline in recent years. The dam owners in to-day’s privatised world, Scottish and Southern Electric, (SSE) will have much to be thanked for if they can agree to migration at Glen Beag.
Next year it will not be possible to extract gravel, make pools or work in or adjacent to the river, without planning permission. To temper spate flow rate and downstream gravel movement, beyond the natural dynamics of the gradient, it will be necessary to restore levels of tree and vegetation cover that existed before Man’s intensive grazing, land drainage and forestry exploitation. Dr Alistair Stephens and Colin Carnie have advised that up to 50% of juvenile feed can come from the bank. The way to hold fish on a beat and maximise juvenile densities is to provide the security of dappled shade for spawners and more feed for juveniles.
It has been agreed that the new Kyle Trust ask SSE biologist Dr Stephens for free migration at Glen Beag. The Trust is developing a riparian zone re-generation plan. Success of both initiatives will yield important subsidiary benefits. Access to higher cooler water may very well help fish to adapt to global warming. More caledonian forest and ground cover, plus recent grazing reductions, will attenuate spates, increasing community protection from the proven consequences of sudden cloudbursts or snow melt.
Flattening the spate peaks also protects redds from washout and acts as an aid to upstream migration from the sea. Angling opportunity will increase too, with longer spells of reasonable water level. Alistair Stephens advised the Kyle Board to appoint a full time biologist. The Board went that way and we are very lucky to have the enthusiasm and good sense with which Iain McMyn is endowed.
The government need to encourage use of modern scientific knowledge to meet public desire for increased bio-diversity and fishing opportunity. Changing land usage with an open Glen Beag and a return toward former ground cover levels and types can satisfy these desires. As a local resident, I look for more community safety for all living close to the fast flowing Carron.
