The River Spey Catchment the River Spey Catchment
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on environmentally friendly paper, 2004 paper, friendly environmentally on Printed by Nevisprint by Printed Design by Iain Sarjeant Iain by Design Painting by Gillian Jones Gillian by Painting Map by Wendy Price Wendy by Map Text based on original by Michael Glen, Touchstone Heritage Management Consultants Management Heritage Touchstone Glen, Michael by original on based Text Lorne Gill/SNH, Highland Council/Highland Folk Museum Folk Council/Highland Highland Gill/SNH, Lorne H, H, Scott/SN Sue Macdonald/SNH, P&A Macpherson, John Sarjeant, Iain Photography by Laurie Campbell, Keith Ringland, Pete Moore, Moore, Pete Ringland, Keith Campbell, Laurie by Photography Achantoul, Aviemore, Inverness-shire, PH22 1QD PH22 Inverness-shire, Aviemore, Achantoul, Spey Catchment Steering Group Steering Catchment Spey For hard copies and further information please contact: please information further and copies hard For The Spey Catchment leaflet Catchment Spey The and Waste Management in the Spey Catchment Spey the in Management Waste and An Investigation of the Scope for Improved Farm Water Farm Improved for Scope the of Investigation An River Spey Catchment 2003 Catchment Spey River The Economic Impact of Water-related Recreation in the in Recreation Water-related of Impact Economic The contact and how to proceed to how and contact River works on the Spey and its Tributaries: Who to Who Tributaries: its and Spey the on works River The River Spey Catchment Management Plan Management Catchment Spey River The download as pdf files from www.snh.org.uk/spey from files pdf as download The following publications are all available for available all are publications following The Albaniae Spey) from a &'th century manuscript manuscript century &'th a from Spey) Situ De (the large and dangerous river" which is called is which river" dangerous and large (the Spe vocatur quod flumen" miserabile et Magnum hawthorn stream but perhaps describing its frothing its describing perhaps but stream hawthorn river to savour, remember and respect. and remember savour, to river The river’s name is Celtic, probably meaning probably Celtic, is name river’s The The Spey offers all these pleasures and more. It’s a It’s more. and pleasures these all offers Spey The into the Moray Firth. Moray the into changing waters. waters. changing of Badenoch, Strathspey and Speyside before rushing before Speyside and Strathspey Badenoch, of canoeing, fishing or pinewoods: or simply ever- simply or pinewoods: or fishing canoeing, (Grey Mountains) and meandering through the lands the through meandering and Mountains) (Grey walking, surging from the high moorland of the Monadhliath the of moorland high the from surging or otters; of otters; or The map does show a river, 157km (98 miles) long, miles) (98 157km river, a show does map The whisky, ospreys whisky, - of salmon, of - Catchment Catchment that links water, plants and animals. animals. and plants water, links that other pictures too pictures other shade of its landscape nor the complex ‘web of life’ of ‘web complex the nor landscape its of shade conjures many conjures River Spey Spey River show the subtleties of the river’s flow, the light and light the flow, river’s the of subtleties the show river that river River Spey Spey River The The The A map of the Spey deceives as it informs for it can’t it for informs it as deceives Spey the of map A swiftness. It’s a It’s swiftness. A walk on the wild side wild the on walk A High lands Protecting a unique try their luck along the beats A des res (stretches) of the lower river. and islands river system for otters The water’s fast and relatively even The Spey is the From the rivers’ mouth at Spey Bay where the flow, and its lack of pollution and Every otter needs second longest river Spey flows into the Moray Firth, to the obstructions, mean salmon can its own territory, in Scotland and highest of the Cairngorm hills over 1300m spawn throughout most of its length which it marks owes much of its above sea level, the river is largely as well as in many tributaries. with spraints character to two unmodified and unpolluted. Accordingly, the The site of an otter’s sheltered holt under the river (droppings) and bank is often chosen to give direct access to the water. major events. More catchment ... all 3008km2 of it .... has an which takes in a than 400 million aquatic environment of the highest quality. ‘Operation Necklace’ large area of little-disturbed waterside with plenty of years ago, the undergrowth. In many other parts of Europe, otters granite rocks of the The river and its tributaries are home to four Statutory protection for the Spey will help to conserve Successive floods gradually shift the bed of the Freshwater pearl mussels are have suffered from destruction of their habitat. Grampian its outstanding habitats for threatened species, species in particular, that are rare, threatened Spey so that the banks" gravel bars and pools endangered across Europe as a result However, the Spey is one of the best freshwater sites Mountains were or endangered in a European context - these change over time, of over-fishing, pollution and poor in Scotland for these agile swimmers. The catchment formed. Rain, sun, wind, rivers and ice eroded many are the Atlantic salmon, otter, freshwater pearl management of rivers and catchments. The Spey is provides water of high quality and abundant food in peaks to leave the rounded shapes of the mussel and sea lamprey. one of the few rivers where they continue to thrive - its many lochans, ponds and marshy patches. Otters Monadhliath and Cairngorm ranges. helped by Operation Necklace which has highlighted eat all kinds of fish but prefer those with plentiful fat, In recognition, the Spey was notified as a Site their protection under such as salmon, trout and eel; they also enjoy frogs During the last 2.5 million years, huge of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 1998 the Wildlife & and toads. glaciers tore away much of the rock to and its importance further recognised by Countryside Act. create the great srath (Gaelic for broad candidacy as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). Many mussels have valley) of the Spey. The loose rocks and the Goldeneyes dive continually In 2003, the SAC was extended to include the also been saved from A love bite to avoid spreads of sands and gravels are the debris and are easily alarmed main tributaries of the river; offering a sinuous you’ll see distinctive white persecution by the (moraine) left by the great ice flows and their melt bars on their wings when network of protection throughout the catchment. they take off, The female’s deeper, inaccessible Maturing sea lampreys live off fish such as haddock, waters. head is brown" with no cod, salmon and trout, using their teeth to scrape a white patch, waters of the river. hole in their prey before drawing out blood. They As the river A noble fish Fresh water pearl mussels mature around &' years The soft, clean old and can live for &55 years, Small pearls then forsake feeding when they leave the Moray Firth approaches the sea, occasionally form inside the shell but fishing for waters of the Spey to spawn in the clean gravel of the Spey’s middle and it runs over The Atlantic salmon holds a special them or disturbing mussels in any way is illegal, provide ideal lower reaches. Larvae hatch after three weeks and sandstone, often place in most people’s affections, whether conditions. Females produce up to a million eggs follow the current downstream before burrowing into altering its for its indomitable energy, its navigational which, once fertilised, are squirted out as active the riverbed’s silt and sand. Up to five years later, channels before skills or simply its taste! The Spey supports one of larvae called glochidia. They survive only if after feeding on tiny organisms, they meeting the Scotland’s most important salmon fisheries and they are inhaled by young salmon and emerge and transform shifting shingle attracts anglers from all over the world prepared to trout and attach themselves to the quickly into eel- ridges of the coast. gills. The fish’s skin forms a cyst over like adults. Neart a’ bhradain as braise leumas * The angler’s greatest prize is a spring salmon each one which then harmlessly They can whose strength and The shingle habitats of the Spey" (Strength of the salmon boldest in leaping) grows there for almost a year. If they’re grow to 50cm vitality present a noble below Fochabers" are internationally challenge, in length important and support an *from Tàladh Dhòmhaill Ghuirm" the ‘Lullaby lucky and land on a suitable area of river exceptional variety of plantlife as of Donald Gorm’ who died in &3&4 bed, they can live for over one hundred years. well as many groups of alder trees, The lamprey has a sucker like mouth disc which can grip hold of almost any surface, Timber" floods and fishing by the collation of guidance on river engineering and And it doesn’t only go in ,,, Working an educational resource to raise awareness of the importance of the river community has also been waters In 1539, the first recorded consignment The catchment is more than just a home to the special produced. of timber from Strathspey was floated creatures and habitats we’ve mentioned ... Like many other down the river to Speymouth. Over and more than just a glorious backdrop for great rivers, the the next 350 years or so, large areas our pleasure. The river is a drain for Spey and its tributaries play their part in the local of Caledonian pine forest were felled When the river acidified rainfall, for summer economy.