BEAULY SYSTEM FISH AND FISHERY ACTION PLAN ... - RAFTS

Appendix IIDraft copies of this action plan were sent to the following organisations for comment:Beauly District Fishery BoardScottish & Southern EnergyScottish Natural HeritageScottish Environment Protection AgencyBeauly Angling ClubRivers and Fisheries Trusts ScotlandForestry Commission (Scotland)Details of the responses received are reproduced below. Additionally, a genericresponse to fishery management plans obtained from Scottish Water by Rivers andFishery Trusts Scotland is also reproduced. It should be noted that a number ofchanges to the draft plan originally circulated have been have been made in responseto the comments received. It is also likely that other suggested improvements will beincorporated into future iterations of action plans for the Ness system.SEPA’s response to the Ness & Beauly Fishery Management PlanSEPA support the work outlined in the Ness and Beauly Fishery Management Plan(FMP) on data collection and habitat improvement. These activities will make animportant contribution to improving our knowledge base and enhancing theecological status of the local water environment.Species and habitat managementThe section on obstructions to fish movement is an issue of particular interest to SEPA. Wehave been developing with RAFTS a system for describing the extent to which barriersimpede migration and would be very keen to see this methodology applied as part of the auditof barriers. SEPA is currently updating the fish barriers information which has been used forthe classification of rivers. We are hoping to update our list by January 21 st and we will usethe information provided in this FMP as well as contacting you to ensure we have the mostaccurate listing possible.The summary of monitoring effort since 2000 given in the Beauly plan acknowledgesthat ‘it is difficult to reach meaningful conclusions with regard to changes in density,growth etc from available data’. This seems to suggest that there may be scope forexploring ways to improve on the monitoring effort, and consideration of this wouldbe a welcome addition to the plan.The fish distribution maps in the plans are of interest, although the small symbolsindicating presence are rather difficult to see in standard screen display. Onelimitation of such maps is that the absence of a species from a watercourse mayeither reflect the true situation or be because no survey has been done there. Morerigorous recording of all species during survey, together with a display of absence aswell as presence, would be the ideal.44