RIVER LOSSIE DISTRICT SALMON FISHERIES BOARD Minutes of the Annual General Meeting (APM) held at Kellas Trout Fishery on Tuesday 10th March 2020 at 3p.m.

Present David Houldsworth (Chair), Fred Rhind, Bill Fraser, Frans Jurgens, Tomas Christie, Charlie Gerrie, Crinan Dunbar,

In attendance Valerie Wardlaw, LDSFB (Minutes), Bob Laughton

Item Action 1 Welcome and Apologies: Mark Laing,

2. Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Qualified Proprietors held on 3rd December 2019 Approved with the amendment to the title of the minutes which should be ‘The VW Annual Meeting of Qualified Proprietors’.

3. Matters arising not on the Agenda • Norway information on GS and stocking rivers- RL has not circulated up to date information on how Norway continues to deal with the effects of the GS outbreak as he could not find a good summary. RL can give anyone RL interested links to various articles he has identified. • Glenlatterach Reservoir- RL has been in touch with Scottish Water about a meeting but has not pinned them down to a date. RL will keep chasing them. RL • Elgin AA- promoting angling- last year’s catches bucked the trend across and were close to the levels last seen in 2010. VW to produce a VW press release for the opening of the season on the 1st April and post it as an event in Spotlight to raise awareness of Elgin and Dallas AA opportunities. Dallas and Elgin AA are offering free permits to junior members. VW has put both angling clubs on Spotlight’s list of clubs and societies and so they should appear on those pages in the magazine as well as online. • Marine Scotland Science response to the letter re grading from the Lossie DSFB- the response was a generic letter and did not refer to anything specific to the Lossie. It at least put the LDSFB’s concerns on record.

4 Financial Accounts for the year ending 31.8.19 are waiting for signing by the accountant, but are available on the website. VW has sent out the assessment letters for the first half of the year. There is no deviation from the expected Income and expenditure to date.

5 2019 Season Report & Proposals for 2020 • RL has updated the catch graphs for the Lossie which show 2019 catches were much better than in recent years. BF reported that most fish were caught at the upper end of the Elgin AA beat around the Cloddach Bridge. The salmon and sea trout moved upstream through the town waters very quickly- this is the first year BF did not see a fish in town waters in his lifetime. BF felt that the increased catches were due to a small number of

1

expert anglers. VW to check what tackle is allowed on the Lossie. FJ/TC VW and CG did not see any fish in 2019, although a few salmon were caught at Brokentore for the first time in a number of years. TC saw a run of fish in early June. A 20lb salmon was caught in October near Mayne Farm. • There is concern about the Cloddach bridge abutment causing a barrier to fish that are close to spawning- they can’t get over the barrier. However fresh run fish can get over the barrier. Fish can and do drop back to the stretch of the river at Mayne Farm to spawn. RL has discussed the barrier with Council who own the bridge, but he thinks that any bridge improvements are very unlikely to be funded. CD suggested getting involved with community voting for projects funded by Moray Council through their Money For Moray scheme. https://www.moneyformoray.org/ RL to contact consultants such as CBEC and Envirocentre to see if they can RL give an estimate of costs for developing a scheme to remove or ease this barrier to fish passage. RL will arrange for a date when the LDSFB RL members could do a site visit to look at the problem. • RL will update catch data graphs with the finalised catches and put on the RL website. • Atlantic Salmon Trust’s Tagging Project- the smolt trap will be installed on the Findhorn again this year. A report on the results from the 2019 tagging project should be published soon. [The AST project for 2020 has been cancelled due to Covid-19] • Linkwood Burn barrier easing- RL will be conducting EF surveys this year to analyse for spawning success in the new sections of the river which is now accessible to fish. • The National Electrofishing Survey results from 2019 should also be published soon and RL hopes that MSS will fund a second year of EF surveys. [NEPS has been cancelled for 2020 due to Covid-19] • A96 Upgrade- RL is undertaking habitat surveys on the proposed new road crossings and will be undertaking EF surveys later in the year. • INNS- the FNLFT has gained £19k for INNS treatment along the Lossie this year. INNS will be treated at Kellas and Brokentore and we will work downstream towards Elgin.

• Mink- The RSPB Ranger at Pitgaveny has been in touch with the SISI

project about hosting a mink raft.

• Schools- RL will be working with Mosstowie, Alves and Dallas this year and

will be bringing classes to Kellas Trout Fishery. ALL • River Management Plan - RL still drafting and has circulated a draft Service Level Agreement between the FNLFT and the LDSFB to the LDSFB for comment. • FNLFT Auction - raised £10,600- thank you for everyone who supported this effort or bid on lots. • Findhorn Bailiffing- the Findhorn DSFB has appointed a new full-time assistant bailiff, Alister Taylor, who is very familiar with the Lossie. Both bailiffs ask that everyone please contact them with any information as it would help them patrol the river much more efficiently and effectively if they had local intelligence. Sean McLean 07920 483081 or Alister Taylor 07387302649. • Black Burn Habitat improvements- The FNLFT is still looking at a scoping ALL exercise to improve the Black Burn. It would be helpful to know who the

2

landowners are, so if any of the Lossie DSFB know, could they pass on the details 6 Catchment Developments • A96- the preferred route has been published and there are numerous river crossings which RL will be monitoring. • Clashgour WF- has gone to public enquiry with Rothes III WF. A three- week enquiry will be held from the 20th May. [Now postponed to September due to the Covid 19]

7 AOCB • The Board noted that a car has been fly tipped at the Cloddach Bridge- this needs to be reported to SEPA as it constitutes a pollution incident. • CD suggested that members of the Elgin AA might be interested in FR/BF attending the Innes Community Council which meets the first Tuesday of every month. They have regular speakers on local issues. More information about the meetings can be found here: http://www.moray.gov.uk/moray_standard/page_60780.html

8 Dates of 2020 Meetings Tuesday the 7th July 2020, Board Meeting at 3pm, t.b.c. depending on Covid- 19 restrictions. Tuesday 1st December Annual Meeting of Qualified Proprietors, 3pm Kellas Trout Fishery

3