River District Salmon Fishery Board Clerk: Will Cowie Administrator: Valerie Wardlaw Fisheries Office, Logie Steading, Dunphail, , IV36 2QN 01309 611220 [email protected] www.fnlft.org.uk/river-findhorn

Minute of the Annual General Meeting (Annual Public Meeting) Held on Monday 19th August 2019 at the Long Room, Logie Steading, at 12.30pm Present: Alasdair Laing – Mark Laing Edward Usborne (Chairman) Graham Bell Rachel Bromby Anthony Laing Robert Hoskin Philip Mackenzie Julie Balgonie Graham Griffith Andrew Howard Tony Watts

In attendance: Sean McLean (Head Bailiff) Valerie Wardlaw – Administrator, FDSFB Robert Laughton – Director, FNLFT

A Item Action 1. Apologies: Colin Cawdor, Ewen Brodie, Edward Greenwell, David Stewart Howitt, Duke of Bedford, Campbell Ross, Ian Wills, Jamie Whittle, John Murray, Rosie Leschallas, Donald Mackenzie (Bailiff) 2. Minutes of Meeting held on 20th August 2018 Minutes were approved. 3. Matters arising none 4. River Reports Chairman- Alasdair Laing The Annual Report for the Findhorn DSFB for 2018 is available from the website here

River Director- Robert Laughton- presentation here. Board Merger with the Lossie DSFB- the Scottish Government awarded a grant to the Findhorn & Lossie DSFBs to investigate a board merger, which enabled a consultant to be employed. The two boards agreed with the consultant’s recommendation not to merge, but to create a formal Service RL Level Agreement between the FDSFB/LDSFB and the FNLFT. A draft SLA will be discussed at the November Board meeting, which will incorporate a new Fisheries Management Plan for the . Rod Catch for 2018- the total catch for 2018 was better than in recent years and bucked the trend across the rest of , where catches were poor due to consistently low water levels. The Spring catch for 2019 at 207 fish was good and catches reported recently have been good, so the 2019 season is looking promising. Conservation Limits Model for the grading of rivers has been revised and the Findhorn remains a Grade 1 river for 2020. The model is still based on catch data; however Marine Scotland Science has commissioned a second National Electrofishing Survey during 2019 to enable the incorporation of juvenile fish numbers into the model. The FNLFT will be electrofishing 9 sites on the Findhorn in 2019 for this, with all sites randomly selected to prevent bias. The results from the 2018 EF Survey gave the Findhorn a Grade 1 in terms of spawning and juvenile fish stock. Atlantic Salmon Trust Missing Salmon Project- in 2019 the Findhorn

DSFB purchased a 6’ smolt trap, which was installed in the Findhorn at the upper section of the Forres AA. The FDSFB funded 100 salmon tags for the project, and over 2400 smolts were caught measured and returned safely. The results of the acoustic tracking should be available in September, and the FDSFB hopes to continue participating in the project in 2020, focusing on losses due to predation. RL thanked Sean Mclean, Donald Mackenzie and Forres AA for their support for the project. INNS- the weather has made control of giant hogweed difficult, however GH has been treated from Daltullich Bridge down to Waterford. The railway line does not appear to have been treated by Network Rail and so remains a source of contamination into areas that are now being treated. Japanese Knotweed will be treated from Daltullich to Sluie. The Mosset has been treated and GH has been reduced to rare on the distribution index. The Muckle Burn has been treated for GH from Earlsmill to Barleymill Bridge. The Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI) has significantly increased volunteer treatment of INNS. Mink- through the SISI project there have been 16 captures of mink in 12 months along the Coast. Please report any sightings immediately to James Symonds, SISI Project Officer on 07493 272898 or [email protected] Education- Tesco Bags of Help provided funding for sessions in school and at Kellas Trout Fishery for classes from , Pilmuir and Andersons Primary. Forres AA provided great help with the angling taster sessions- thank you. RL has secured funding for 2020 for sessions for three further schools. FNLFT Fundraising- RL thanked everyone for their support of the Extreme ALL Duck Race held in May at Logie, and would appreciate if any Proprietors can offer suggestions or lots for the auction planned for January 2020.

Head Bailiff- Sean McLean reported that poaching is still an issue on the river, and the bailiffs regularly patrol the Findhorn and the Lossie (under contract with the Lossie DSFB). SM has removed a net across the bay at Burghead and has been watching for nets at Lossiemouth. There have been poaching incidents around Tomatin and Moy recently, which have been reported to the police. The recent catches of grilse are low, but plenty of fish are being seen in the river with a 25lb fish caught on the Forres AA beats last week.

5. Consideration of Accounts to 31st January 2019 The Accounts have been formally approved by the Board in May 2019, and are available here. The FDSFB is in good financial health and is using any surplus for projects which provide information about and benefit the fisheries- such as the Missing Salmon project.

6. AOCB Edward Usborne- raised the issue of works to repair the railway bridge supports at Tomatin. RL confirmed that he has been commenting on the proposed works and currently SEPA have rejected the proposals and asked for a better solution that does not disrupt the river. Sean Mclean reported that recent heavy rainfall events have led to substantial sediment being eroded from the riverbanks of the Strathnoon Burn, colouring the water around Tomatin. Meeting Closed.