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After Years of Turbulence, a Bright Future Awaits One of Scotland's Most Coveted Salmon Beats, Writes Craig Somerville

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After Years of Turbulence, a Bright Future Awaits One of Scotland's Most Coveted Salmon Beats, Writes Craig Somerville Breached, a new dawn brushes over CRAIG Morphie Dyke. Note the sea SOMERVILLE on the horizon. works for Castabroad Media (castabroad.co.uk) A videographer and marketer, he provides media for sporting estates and river trusts. LTHOUGH FEWER salmon are returning to our rivers, the demise of this incredible fish is not inevitable. At Morphie on the North Esk you will discover a refreshing culture that insists the decline is avoidable and reversible. Be careful on your first visit. With a bubbly spring in your step, an unfamiliar sense of positivity may wash over you while admiring the work that has been done since Wainstones Estates Aacquired the beat in October 2016. The optimism is founded on hard data; there are big encouraging spikes in recent graphs. I’m privileged to work every day with amazing people who make a difference to our rivers and I recognised Wainstones and Morphie as an organisation that deserves kudos. Breaking the mould and grasping opportunities to drive improvements takes three key ingredients: people THE with determination, knowledge and passion; considerable investment; and best practice, defined by competent authorities, followed to the letter (and sometimes improved upon). I am sure that colleagues working on projects across Scotland will agree with me and might add to this list. Needless to say, there are people on beats and rivers who are MAGIC OF more open to change than others – they can spot potential. The team at Morphie on the North Esk can celebrate having rebuilt a salmon-fishing stronghold. Fishery manager? Tom Festing told me, “You can see what’s happening here and it can only get better. Unless something truly catastrophic happens … this river is going to outlast many of the rest. Ask those who fish here. It is plain to see.” MORPHIE Marine Scotland uses the North Esk as a case study for the After years of turbulence, a bright future awaits one of Scotland’s whole of Scotland, describing it as “a smolt factory” in rude health from its headwaters to the estuary. most coveted salmon beats, writes Craig Somerville Whether you think the work undertaken at Morphie is 30 years late, on time, or even 30 years ahead, the beat is taking PHOTOGRAPHY: CRAIG SOMERVILLE bold steps to future-proof its existence. In 2022, its longstanding spring and autumn syndicate expires, giving › 60 | JANUARY 2020 JANUARY 2020 | 61 NORTH ESK SALMON Inside the newly renovated lodge. The hut with outdoor bar to watch salmon at the foot of breach pool. mortal salmon-anglers a chance to fish what could become the best fishery in the country if Wainstones, the Esk District Salmon Fishery Board (EDSFB) and Esks Rivers and Fisheries Trust’s strategy goes to plan. The big question “The timing of the buyout is: Why is Morphie getting better when salmon-fishing generally is bleeding? was right, although a little First among the reasons is the removal of the commercial nets in late 2018 from The Nab at the mouth of the river near too close for comfort” Montrose, a few hundred yards below Morphie. Wild Scottish salmon were officially taken off the menu when this last The relics of the pump station – a vivid reminder of the past. Thirteen dreamy pools with fast runs or deep glides. netting station closed. The fishery owned by Kinnaber Ltd caught thousands of salmon per year (18%-22% of the annual run), most of which were sent to Billingsgate Market. The their prime, the river was stocked by a hatchery, boosting important to the river ecosystem, stabilising banks, Nab was also the source of wild Scottish sea-trout, often seen rod and net returns. There are no hatcheries now and the providing protection and food for bugs above and below the on the specials boards of pubs. In February, the first day of numbers were plummeting. The timing of the buyout was water, and hence food for fish at most stages of their life. the season, the nets once caught more than 200 fish. right, although a little too close for comfort. Shade cools pools in hot, low-water conditions reducing adult Heartbreaking. EDSFB strategically doubled its rates two years before the salmon stress and disease. Banks are kept tidy, but it’s not a EDSFB bought the fishing rights from Kinnaber Ltd partly purchase and then set up a separate company to acquire the garden beat. The road up and down the right bank is suitable During the day the river is policed by anglers and gillies because the value of a salmon in the river is far greater to the rights with the extra revenue. Immediate results were felt for all vehicles, and foot access is straightforward. Each pool when their presence is enough to make the birds scarper. But local economy than that of a salmon in a net heading for this year, as you can see in the graph (opposite). The number is marked by a sign on a slab taken from the famous breached the volunteer shepherds rise at four every morning to scare market. But the main purpose was conservation. In theory, of fish over the Logie counter, just upstream of Morphie, in dyke, and there’s a bench at the top of each run where you can the birds. They must feel like zombies, living on a few hours’ thousands more fish are now able to swim up the North Esk. July 2019 was 2,913, the biggest since 2010 and the third contemplate your strategy. sleep per day all season, especially from April to June when If the board had not bought the rights, someone else would largest in July since the counter was installed in 1981. A Ask anyone that fishes Morphie and they will tell you the the birds are most active. have done and potentially continued netting. marvellous example of theory becoming practice. It’s a highly amount of small fish and juveniles in the water is noticeable. The team protect the Kinaber, Morphie and Canterland Netting was unsustainable. When the stations were in satisfying graph to read. A massive sense of relief has been The result of smolt shepherding. beats and sometimes all the way up the glen. felt along the river. The main benefactors will probably be the Piscivorous birds roost at sea and fly upstream at first light It’s like keeping the fox from the lambs, but they have the lower beats: Morphie, Canterland and Kinaber. I can’t wait to feed until the sun is up. It’s not only the usual suspects, birds under control. Dog-walkers are offered a flag to scare to discover the end-of-year data. I doff my cap to the EDSFB goosanders and cormorants, but also hundreds of gulls, the birds, a timed gas gun is positioned in quiet areas of the Familiar names for its foresight. which hunt on gravel bars where smolts must pass through lower river, and gunshots can be fired to scare the birds, often with fond memories. At Morphie, the new owners have invested in only 2in-3in of water. in conjunction with a laser (the birds don’t, therefore, become Note the Kinaber infrastructure. It is noticeable that every rock in the pools comfortable with a harmless laser). viaduct in the is perfectly positioned and has yet to gather moss. Hundreds SALMON THROUGH THE LOGIE The last resort is culling under a strict Scottish Natural background where the nets of boulders have been used to stabilise the banks under COUNTER IN 2018 AND 2019 Heritage licence. Sometimes the birds learn the shepherds’ were taken off. SEPA licences and through consultation between a routines, recognising their trucks. New birds will fly in and knowledgeable gillie, fishery managers, the EDSFB and an 3500 land, as bold as brass, but can be scared off; educated birds environmental engineer. As the water height changes, the 3000 are wise and require control. Only a few birds can be culled pools react differently to the new structures, providing under the SNH licence, therefore it is best to maintain 2019 fishing opportunities in any condition. More than £100,000 2500 scare tactics first. has been spent. Extracting gravel, again with a SEPA licence, 2018 One of the most virulent posts on social media this season has meant that fast pools are now slower and deeper, aiding 2000 was a cormorant killed legally under licence at Morphie the salmon’s migration, offering them more comfortable lies, during the smolt migration. In its stomach were more than and improving anglers’ chances. The beat’s 13 pools are 1500 30 juvenile fish. If one bird ate this many fish every day for dreamy; I couldn’t fault the work done. the entire smolt run, imagine the effect of several birds Some 2,500 trees have been planted on the south bank 1000 across the entire catchment. shielding the easterly flowing water from the lower sun in Social media can be powerful and yet harmful. Morphie spring and autumn. The beat fishes best from the north bank 500 xxxxxxxx Mike Young told me how a few anglers post “Kill because the fly swings away from the sun rather than into it, them all!”, but he says, “That’s getting us nowhere; that is bad, 0 leading to better results on bright days. The trees are hugely DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV bad publicity. [Deterring birds] has to be done the right way, › 62 | JANUARY 2020 JANUARY 2020 | 63 NORTH ESK SALMON RIGHT Fishing the famous Batts pools below the Lodge.
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