Most days at Coulmony I walk along the river and in 2022 and 2023 I hardly ever saw a fish jump in the pools. So, it was with a great sense of relief that in 2024 I saw a good number of fish throughout the season. This was reflected in catch statistics which were up from 818 to 1246 which was most encouraging, and I hope that the improvement will continue in 2025.
During the year the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified the Atlantic Salmon as ‘endangered’ which raises the question of whether any salmon should be retained for eating. The Board’s view is that, with a 93% return rate, compulsory catch and release for the whole season is not necessary but please continue to return as many fish as possible.
A great deal of hard work has gone into Saprolegnia research this year, Vasileios Kyparissis has been appointed to work with Pieter van West from Aberdeen University to study this disease on the Findhorn and other rivers. To this end, Sean and Alister have worked hard to collect water samples throughout the year to give us a better understanding of the prevalence and strains of this disease at different times of year. Preliminary results of this water sampling should be available this spring. As I mentioned last year, the Board has contributed funding to this research using reserve funds. As in the previous two years, there was an outbreak of Saprolegnia in the spring, but this seems to have been contained by a spate at just the right moment.
The Findhorn Watershed continues to gather momentum, and I encourage you to follow their activities on their website (www.findhornwatershed.com)
Major inroads have been made into the control of Giant Hogweed and Japanese Knotweed and my thanks go to Elise Cox, Gareth Meadows and all the volunteers for their work in this area.
Sean and Alister have had an extremely busy year and my sincere thanks go to both of them for their dedication and professionalism. My thanks also go to Clare for her calm and efficient work in the office.
Most of you will know by now that Bob Laughton will be retiring in March. How things have changed since Bob first started working for the Board in 1997. There was no Management Plan, the Trust had not been set up, invasive species were rampant and there was little concern about the future of the Atlantic Salmon. So, we owe Bob a huge debt of gratitude for all that he has achieved over the years and for his wise and valuable advice to the Board. Bob will be greatly missed but we are very fortunate that Elle Adams will be the Executive Director of the Trust from 1st April. She will take over Bob’s role of managing the Board’s business. A testament to all the work carried out under Bob’s control is contained in the Findhorn DSFB Annual Report 2024 which I hope you will enjoy reading. I and the Board wish Bob a long and happy retirement.
Anthony Laing
FDSFB Chair