SSPO donates over £70,000 to wild salmon conservation projects

THE Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO) has provided conservation bodies with funding of more than £70,000 to help ensure the future of wild salmon.

The awards were made through the Wild Salmonid Support Fund, which is financed by the leading fish farming companies and managed by independent grant-making charity Foundation Scotland.

The fund, launched this April, aims ultimately to invest around £1.5m to support wild salmon and sea trout stocks in Scotland.The five organisations receiving funding in this round are:

Argyll Fisheries Trust, which received £18,600 to invest in habitat restoration for sea trout in the Dalvuie Burn near Oban;

The Flow Country Rovers Trust, in the Highlands, which will use its £10,070 grant to help fund research into macroinvertebrates in 10 rivers, contributing to a picture of the health of stream habitats and the effects of global warming;

In the Outer Hebrides, Urras Oighreachd Chàrlabhaigh (Carloway Estate Trust) received a grant of £9,251 to undertake a project that will aim to improve salmon spawning grounds on the Carloway river, including the replenishment of gravel beds;

Wester Ross Fisheries Trust; and

Lochaber Fisheries Trust.

Tavish Scott, CEO of the SSPO, said:“Investing in good science and nature restoration projects on Scotland’s rivers is extremely important.

“We look forward to seeing the results of these excellent projects that are funded by the sector, and those that will be delivered in future under this fund, to benefit Scotland’s iconic wild salmon and sea trout.”