Almost £230,000 (US$310,000) is being awarded to nine conservation projects this year through Salmon Scotland’s wild fisheries fund.
The projects stretch from Ayrshire and Galloway to Argyll, Lochaber, Loch Lomond, and the Western Isles. They include riverbank restoration, tree planting, improved spawning grounds, and new technology to track the movements and survival of individual salmon.
Since its launch in 2021, the wild fisheries fund has delivered £1.5 million (US$2 million) for practical conservation and restoration work, supporting 30 local projects across Scotland.
Salmon farmers have now committed a further £460,000 (US$620,000) over the next two years, taking total investment through the fund to £1.96 million (US$2.7 million).
On the upper River Ayr, £31,358 (US$42,603) will support work to restore and protect 400 metres of badly eroded riverbank.
The project will also install more than 650 metres of livestock fencing and plant native trees to improve habitat for salmon and trout.
In Lewis, Stornoway Angling Association has been awarded £18,600 (US$25,300) for work on the River Creed. Spawning gravels across the catchment and its tributaries will be loosened and cleaned, while a new microchip tag reader will help fisheries experts track individual salmon and sea trout.
In Galloway, £7,769 (US$10,560) will help restore tributaries of the River Bladnoch, including returning a previously straightened section of burn to a more natural course and planting 1,000 broadleaf trees.