Fisheries Board – River Nairn

The NDSFB is responsible for fisheries policies, such as establishing a conservation code to limit the number of fish caught per season. The Board also employs two water bailiffs. One of the bailiff’s main tasks is to prevent and prosecute illegal fishing. The bailiff also controls predators, monitors river and fishery conditions, and attends to habitat issues as necessary. The Board also works with the Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Rivers Trust on issues such as habitat and predator management, control of invasive non-native plant species such as giant Hogweed, and research.

Fishings are owned privately and let to the Nairn Angling Association, and to other anglers via private proprietors. In recent years, catches have been reasonably good, although there is some concern about sea trout populations. Development (e.g., wind farms), predators (American signal crayfish, American mink, seals) and poor agricultural practices pose the greatest risks to the fish stocks in the river, although all of these are overshadowed by the mortality rate during the sea-going phase of the fishes’ lifecycle.