Publication - Consultation paper

Salmon fishing: proposed river gradings for 2022 season

Part of: Marine and fisheries

Views sought on proposed river gradings for the 2022 salmon fishing season.

In this document:

overview
proposed river gradings 2022
how to submit your views
background to the assessment
changes from the 2021 assessment
proposed regulations
documents

Overview

Proposed river gradings for the 2022 salmon fishing season have been published. These are set out below.

You can submit your views on the proposed gradings and regulations, between 11 August and 10 September 2021. See how to do this below.

Proposed river gradings for the 2022 season

An assessment of the conservation status of salmon in inland waters in Scotland is carried out each year and each river or assessment group is assigned a grading depending on the outcome of that assessment.

You can watch a video explaining the annual assessment process.

As a result of the latest assessment, we are proposing that the grading of a number of rivers or groups of rivers will change for the 2022 fishing season.

The proposed gradings are set out in the following tables.

Summary table

Category	2016 (Districts)	2017 (Rivers)	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022 (Proposed)
1	11	47	28	48	36	36	35
2	15	48	21	30	34	35	37
3	82	73	122	95	103	102	101

▲ Grade rises one level - this applies to 8 rivers in 2022.

▼ Grade falls one level - this applies to 8 rivers in 2022.

Note: Count will come to 102 for Grade 3 due to North Harris SAC lying in two fishery districts.

Clyde Coast

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name	Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
2	3	2	3	3	Ayr	River Ayr	NS 3282 2274	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Carradale	Carradale Water	NR 8023 3722	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Carradale	Glenlussa Water	NR 7652 2552	3	no change
2	3	2	2	2	Clyde and Leven	Endrick Water SAC	NS 4262 8957	2	no change
2	1	2	2	2	Clyde and Leven	River Clyde	NS 4615 7250	2	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Clyde and Leven	River Goil	NN 1959 0147	3	no change
2	3	2	2	2	Clyde and Leven	River Leven (Dunbartonshire) *	NS 3951 7423	2	no change
1	1	2	2	2	Doon	River Doon	NS 3238 1952	2	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Echaig (Eckaig)	River Eachaig	NS 1569 8277	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Fyne	Cuilarstich Burn	NR 8598 8796	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Fyne	Kinglas Water	NN 1803 1086	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Fyne	River Aray	NN 0982 0905	3	no change
1	2	2	3	3	Girvan	Water of Girvan	NX 1827 9820	2	▲
3	3	3	3	3	Iorsa	Glenrosa Water	NS 0110 3666	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Iorsa	Iorsa Water	NR 8831 3686	3	no change
3	3	2	3	3	Iorsa	Machrie Water	NR 8926 3350	3	no change
1	2	2	2	2	Irvine	River Garnock	NS 3064 3827	2	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Irvine	River Irvine	NS 3069 3824	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Ruel	River Ruel	NS 0112 8100	3	no change
1	1	1	2	2	Stinchar	River Stinchar	NX 0810 8166	2	no change

* The River Leven (Dunbartonshire) is awarded a Grade 2 due to the presence of the Grade 2 Endrick Water SAC within the system.

East Region

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name	Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
3	3	3	3	3	Forth	River Almond	NT 1888 7705	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Forth	River Avon	NS 9559 8111	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Forth	River Carron (Grangemouth)	NS 9310 8280	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Forth	River Devon	NS 8492 9359	3	no change
2	2	2	2	2	Forth	River Forth	NS 7982 9439	2	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Forth	River Leven (Fife)	NO 3803 0041	3	no change
1	1	1	2	2	Forth	River Teith SAC **	NS 7982 9439	2	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Forth	River Tyne	NT 6246 7926	3	no change
2	3	2	3	3	Tay	River Earn	NO 1980 1865	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Tay	River Eden	NO 4519 1919	3	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Tay	River Tay SAC	NO 1970 1888	1	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Tweed	River Tweed SAC	NU 0010 5228	1	no change

** The River Teith SAC excludes: 1) the Allan Water which drains to NS 7866 9603 and 2) all inland waters which drain to NS 7695 9614. It is awarded a Grade 2 due to the Grade 2 in the wider River Forth.

Moray Firth Region

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name	Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
1	3	1	2	1	Alness	Alness River	NH 6586 6803	2	▼
3	3	3	3	3	Alness	Balnagowan River	NH 7797 7299	3	no change
1	3	3	3	3	Alness	River Glass	NH 6278 6561	3	no change
2	3	1	1	1	Beauly	River Beauly	NH 5537 4816	1	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Conon	River Conon	NH 5616 5788	1	no change
1	2	1	2	2	Deveron	River Deveron	NJ 6945 6385	2	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Deveron	Water of Philorth	NK 0223 6487	3	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Findhorn	River Findhorn	NJ 0244 6184	1	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Lossie	River Lossie	NJ 2384 7072	3	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Nairn	River Nairn	NH 8886 5710	1	no change
3	3	1	2	1	Ness	River Moriston SAC	NH 4298 1622	2	▼
3 > 2	3 > 2	1	2	1	Ness	River Ness (excluding the Moriston)	NH 6599 4700	2	▼
1	1	1	1	1	Spey	River Spey SAC	NJ 3439 6567	1	no change

North East Region

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name	Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
3	3	3	3	3	Bervie	Bervie Water	NO 8356 7253	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Dee (Aberdeenshire)	Carron Water	NO 8753 8573	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Dee (Aberdeenshire)	Cowie Water	NO 8754 8621	3	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Dee (Aberdeenshire)	River Dee SAC	NJ 9655 0605	1	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Don	River Don	NJ 9528 0943	3	no change
1	1	1	1	1	North Esk	River North Esk	NO 7394 6251	1	no change
1	2	1	2	2	South Esk	River South Esk SAC	NO 6753 5771	2	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Ugie	River Ugie	NK 1217 4739	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Ythan	River Ythan	NK 0063 2441	3	no change

North Region

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name		Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
1	3	1	1	1	Berriedale	Berriedale and Langwell Waters SAC		ND 1202 2248	1	no change
1	3	1	1	1	Brora	River Brora		NC 9099 0384	1	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Brora	River Loth		NC 9537 0980	3	no change
1	3	1	1	1	Dunbeath	Dunbeath Water		ND 1649 2946	1	no change
1	2	1	1	1	Forss	Forss Water		ND 0286 6994	1	no change
1	3	1	1	2	Grudie	Kyle of Durness	Daill River	NC 3592 6822	2	no change
1	3	1	1	2	Grudie	Kyle of Durness	Grudie River	NC 3583 6307	2	no change
1	3	1	1	2	Grudie	Kyle of Durness	River Dionard	NC 3647 6252	2	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Halladale	Halladale River		NC 8891 6481	1	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Helmsdale	River Helmsdale		ND 0286 1514	1	no change
1	3	1	2	2	Hope and Polla or Strathbeg	River Hope		NC 4788 6209	2	no change
	3	3	3	3	Hope and Polla or Strathbeg	River Polla		NC 3909 5470	3	no change
1	3	1	2	2	Kinloch	Kinloch River		NC 5564 5287	2	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Kyle of Sutherland	River Carron (Bonar Bridge)		NH 6063 9189	1	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Kyle of Sutherland	River Evelix		NH 7344 8756	3	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Kyle of Sutherland	River Oykel SAC		NH 6093 9121	1	no change
2	1	1	1	1	Kyle of Sutherland	River Shin		NH 5723 9664	1	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Naver and Borgie	River Borgie SAC		NC 6839 6227	1	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Naver and Borgie	River Naver SAC		NC 7100 6017	1	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Strathy	River Strathy		NC 8346 6578	3	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Thurso	River Thurso SAC		ND 1176 6817	1	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Wick	Wick River		ND 3623 5089	1	no change

North West Region - Cape Wrath to Kyle of Lochalsh

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name		Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
3	3	3	3	3	Applecross	River Applecross		NG 7146 4548	3	no change
1	3	1	2	2	Badachro	Kerry and Badachro group	Badachro River	NG 7826 7375	3	▼
1	3	1	2	2	Badachro	Kerry and Badachro group	River Kerry	NG 8122 7388	3	▼
2	3	2	2	3	Balgay	Balgy River		NG 8476 5465	3	no change
3	3	2	2	2	Broom	River Broom		NH 1765 8511	1	▲
2	3	1	1	1	Ewe	River Ewe		NG 8576 8091	1	no change
2	3	2	1	1	Gruinard	Gruinard River		NG 9586 9201	1	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Gruinard	Little Gruinard River SAC		NG 9473 8991	3	no change
	3	3	3	3	Inchard	Abhainn Aisir Mhor system		NC 2017 5833	3	no change
1	2	1	1	1	Inchard	Rhiconich River		NC 2535 5228	1	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Inchard	Strath Shinary River		NC 2249 6543	3	no change
2	3	1	2	2	Inver	River Inver		NC 0957 2305	2	no change
3	3	2	2	2	Kanaird (Kennart)	River Kanaird		NC 1211 0030	2	no change
2	3	2	3	3	Kirkaig	Polly and Oscaig	River Oscaig	NC 0413 1363	3	no change
2	3	2	3	3	Kirkaig	Polly and Oscaig	River Polly	NC 0663 1413	3	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Kirkaig	River Kirkaig		NC 0778 1939	1	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Laxford	Duartmore Burn		NC 1787 3695	3	no change
1	3	1	1	2	Laxford	Laxford and Gleann Dubh	Gleann Dubh River	NC 2873 3340	3	▼
1	3	1	1	2	Laxford	Laxford and Gleann Dubh	River Laxford	NC 2293 4737	3	▼
2	3	3	3	3	Little Loch Broom (Little Broom)	Dundonnel River		NH 0906 8879	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Torridon	River Torridon		NG 8995 5510	3	no change
2	3	3	3	2	Ullapool	Ullapool River		NH 1233 9469	2	no change

North West Region - Kyle of Lochalsh to Ardnamurchan

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name		Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
3	3	3	3	3	Ailort (Aylort)	River Ailort		NM 7649 8202	2	▲
2	3	3	3	3	Arnisdale	River Arnisdale		NG 8499 0935	3	no change
2	3	2	2	2	Carron	River Carron (Strathcarron)		NG 9339 4138	2	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Croe (Crowe)	River Shiel (Shiel Bridge)		NG 9327 1889	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Glenelg	Gleann Beag River		NG 8044 1812	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Glenelg	Glenmore River		NG 8119 1987	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Kilchoan	Inverie and Guiserein	Gleann na Guiserein River	NG 7425 0730	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Kilchoan	Inverie and Guiserein	Inverie River	NM 7743 9887	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Kilchoan	River Carnach		NM 8617 9602	3	no change
2	3	2	3	3	Loch Long	Ling and Elchaig	River Elchaig	NG 9344 3016	3	no change
2	3	2	3	3	Loch Long	Ling and Elchaig	River Ling	NG 9350 3025	3	no change
2	3	3	2	2	Moidart	River Moidart		NM 7078 7242	2	no change
2	3	2	3	3	Morar	River Morar		NM 6755 9247	2	▲
3	3	3	3	3	Shiel	Achateny and Fascadale	Achateny Water	NM 5185 7063	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Shiel	Achateny and Fascadale	Allt Fascadale	NM 4987 7069	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Shiel	River Shiel (Shielfoot)		NM 6596 7116	3	no change

Other Areas

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name	Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
3	3	***	***	***	Drummachloy	No individual river data held		***	no change
3	3	***	***	***	Fleet (Sutherland)	No individual river data held		***	no change
3	3	***	***	***	Gour	No individual river data held		***	no change
3	3	***	***	***	Kishorn	No individual river data held		***	no change
3	3	***	***	***	Orkney Islands	No individual river data held		***	no change
3	3	***	***	***	Sanda	No individual river data held		***	no change
3	3	***	***	***	Shetland Islands	No individual river data held		***	no change
3	3	***	***	***	Small Isles	No individual river data held		***	no change

*** No individual river data is held in 8 Districts - These remain Grade 3 for 2022.

Outer Hebrides

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name			Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
3	3	3	3	3	Clayburn	East Harris	Abhainn Leac a' Li		NG 1256 9290	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Clayburn	East Harris	Abhainn na Ciste		NG 0745 8753	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Clayburn	East Harris	Loch Creavat system		NG 1183 9286	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Clayburn	East Harris	Loch Flodabay system		NG 0996 8893	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Clayburn	East Harris	Loch Huamavat system		NG 0821 8764	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Clayburn	East Harris	Loch Manias system		NG 1001 8940	3	no change
2	2	1	1	2	Clayburn	Laxadale Lochs			NG 1815 9952	2	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Clayburn	Scaladale and Vigadale		River Scaladale	NB 1900 1029	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Clayburn	Scaladale and Vigadale		River Vigadale	NB 1892 1150	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Creed	Eishken Estate		Abhainn Shromois	NB 2485 1555	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Creed	Eishken Estate		Abhainn Smuaisibhig	NB 2726 0486	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Creed	Eishken Estate		Loch Eishken system	NB 3278 1184	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Creed	Eishken Estate		Loch Sgiobacleit system	NB 2944 1632	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Creed	Eishken Estate		Loch Stiomrabhaigh system	NB 3465 1145	3	no change
1	2	1	1	2	Creed	River Creed			NB 4185 3178	2	no change
2	3	3	3	2	Creed	Soval Estate		Loch Strandavat system	NB 2701 1975	2	no change
2	3	3	3	2	Creed	Soval Estate		River Laxay	NB 3320 2118	2	no change
		3	3	3	Creed	Aline Estate		Abhainn Mhuil	NB 2134 1282	3	no change
		3	3	3	Creed	Aline Estate		Abhainn Mor Kintaravay	NB 2319 1729	3	no change
1	2	2	2	3	Fincastle	Loch Steisavat system			NG 0145 8697	3	no change
1	1	1	2	1	Fincastle	River Laxdale (Harris)			NG 0921 9722	1	no change
3	3	1	2	3	Fincastle	North Harris SAC		Abhainn Mhiabhaig	NB 0994 0602	3	no change
3	3	1	2	3	Fincastle	North Harris SAC		Amhuinnsuidhe	NB 0498 0768	3	no change
3	3	1	2	3	Fincastle	North Harris SAC		Leosavay River	NB 0408 0809	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Gress (Greiss)	River Gress			NB 4902 4120	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Gress (Greiss)	Laxdale and Blackwater (Lewis)		River Laxadale	NB 4321 3443	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Gress (Greiss)	Laxdale and Blackwater (Lewis)		River Blackwater	NB 4417 3590	3	no change
2	3	1	1	2	Howmore	Howmore and Loch Bi		Howmore River	NF 7541 3622	2	no change
2	3	1	1	2	Howmore	Howmore and Loch Bi		Loch Bi system	NF 7694 4640	2	no change
2	2	3	3	3	Howmore	Kildonan and Loch a' Bharp		Loch a' Bharp system	NF 7892 2041	3	no change
2	2	3	3	3	Howmore	Kildonan and Loch a' Bharp		Loch Kildonan system	NF 7232 2759	3	no change
2	2	2	2	2	Loch Roag	Caslabhat and Tamanabhaigh		Abhainn Caslabhat	NB 0354 3136	3	▼
2	2	2	2	2	Loch Roag	Caslabhat and Tamanabhaigh		Abhainn Tamanabhaigh	NB 0404 2014	3	▼
1	1	1	1	1	Loch Roag	Forsa River (Lewis)			NB 0533 3260	1	no change
1	2	1	1	1	Loch Roag	Langavat SAC			NB 2155 2968	1	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Loch Roag	Loch Morsgail system			NB 1387 2427	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Loch Roag	Mhor a' Ghlinne Ruaidh and Geisiadar		Abhainn Mhor a' Ghlinne Ruaidh	NB 1017 3255	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Loch Roag	Mhor a' Ghlinne Ruaidh and Geisiadar		Loch Geisiadar system	NB 1131 3221	3	no change
1	2	1	2	2	Loch Roag	River Barvas			NB 3404 5079	2	no change
1	2	1	1	1	Loch Roag	River Blackwater (Lewis)			NB 2339 3140	1	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Loch Roag	River Carloway			NB 2021 4245	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Mullanageren, Horasary and Lochna-Ciste (North Uist)	Abhainn Eig			NF 7716 7376	3	no change
	3	3	3	2	Mullanageren, Horasary and Lochna-Ciste (North Uist)	Horisary River			NF 7611 6761	1	▲
3	2	2	2	2	Mullanageren, Horasary and Lochna-Ciste (North Uist)	North Uist Lochs		Loch Grogary system	NF 7088 7204	3	▼
3	2	2	2	2	Mullanageren, Horasary and Lochna-Ciste (North Uist)	North Uist Lochs		Loch nan Geireann system	NF 8438 7363	3	▼
3	2	2	2	2	Mullanageren, Horasary and Lochna-Ciste (North Uist)	North Uist Lochs		Loch Sgealtair system	NF 9065 6840	3	▼
3	3	1	2	3	Resort	North Harris SAC		Abhainn Mhor Ceann Reasort	NB 1060 1720	3	no change
3	3	1	2	3	Resort	North Harris SAC		Loch a' Ghlinne system	NB 0181 1355	3	no change

Skye

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name		Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
3	3	3	3	3	Sligachan, Broadford and Portree	Broadford River		NG 6413 2362	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Sligachan, Broadford and Portree	Brogaig, Stenscholl and Kilmaluag	Kilmaluag River	NG 4387 7491	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Sligachan, Broadford and Portree	Brogaig, Stenscholl and Kilmaluag	River Brogaig	NG 4760 6848	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Sligachan, Broadford and Portree	Brogaig, Stenscholl and Kilmaluag	Stenscholl River	NG 4847 6829	3	no change
	3	3	3	2	Sligachan, Broadford and Portree	Lealt River		NG 5203 6046	2	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Sligachan, Broadford and Portree	River Sligachan		NG 4908 3044	3	no change
2	3	2	2	1	Sligachan, Broadford and Portree	Varragill River		NG 4766 4122	1	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Snizort	Drynoch and Eynort	Eynort River	NG 3810 2644	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Snizort	Drynoch and Eynort	River Drynoch	NG 4062 3140	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Snizort	Fhionnairigh and Scavaig	Abhainn Camas Fhionnairigh	NG 5096 1880	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Snizort	Fhionnairigh and Scavaig	Scavaig River	NG 4874 1949	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Snizort	Fhionnairigh and Scavaig	Ant-Statha Mhoir	NG 5642 2239	3	no change
1	3	2	3	3	Snizort	Hinnisdal to Haultin	River Haultin	NG 4168 5173	3	no change
1	3	2	3	3	Snizort	Hinnisdal to Haultin	River Hinnisdal	NG 3828 5755	3	no change
1	3	2	3	3	Snizort	Hinnisdal to Haultin	River Romesdal	NG 4079 5338	3	no change
3	3	2	2	2	Snizort	Snizort and Ose	River Ose	NG 3137 4063	2	no change
3	3	2	2	2	Snizort	Snizort and Ose	River Snizort	NG 4137 4878	2	no change

Solway

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name	Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
3	3	3	3	3	Annan	River Annan	NY 1904 6454	3	no change
2	3	3	3	2	Bladnoch (Bladenoch)	River Bladnoch SAC	NX 4407 5482	2	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Cree	River Cree	NX 4654 5812	1	no change
3	3	2	2	3	Dee (Kirkcudbright)	River Dee (Kirkcudbrightshire)	NX 6842 5127	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Fleet (Kirkcudbright)	Water of Fleet	NX 5876 5476	3	no change
2	2	3	3	3	Luce	Water of Luce	NX 1955 5563	2	▲
2	1	2	3	3	Nith	River Nith	NX 9945 6610	3	no change
2	2	2	2	2	Urr	Urr Water	NX 8362 5458	2	no change

West Region

2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	District	River Name		Outflow point	2022 - Proposed	Change
3	3	3	3	3	Add	River Add		NR 8049 9248	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Aline	River Aline		NM 6976 4751	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Awe	River Awe		NN 0127 3273	3	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Awe	River Etive		NN 1162 4537	2	▲
3	3	3	3	3	Baa	Coladoir and Leidle	Coladoir River	NM 5421 2886	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Baa	Coladoir and Leidle	Leidle River	NM 5187 2644	3	no change
1	1	1	1	1	Baa	River Ba		NM 5372 4109	1	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Baa	River Bellart		NM 4299 5175	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Creran	River Creran		NN 0054 4563	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Inner	Corran River		NR 5459 7123	3	no change
2	3	2	2	3	Inner	Lussa River (Jura)		NR 6425 8682	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Inner	Oisdale River		NR 5973 8412	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Laggan	Kintour and Claggain	Claggain River	NR 4630 5364	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Laggan	Kintour and Claggain	Kintour River	NR 4652 5175	3	no change
3	3	2	3	2	Laggan	Laggan and Sorn	River Laggan	NR 2928 5541	2	no change
3	3	2	3	2	Laggan	Laggan and Sorn	River Sorn	NR 3326 6209	2	no change
2	3	3	3	3	Leven	River Coe		NN 0981 5921	3	no change
2	1	3	3	3	Leven	River Leven (Inverness-shire)		NN 1814 6214	2	▲
2	2	2	2	2	Lochy	River Lochy		NN 1089 7477	3	▼
1	2	3	3	3	Lochy	River Nevis		NN 1087 7466	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Lussa	Lussa River (Mull)		NM 6895 3085	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Nell	River Euchar		NM 8244 2218	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Nell	River Nell		NM 8750 2471	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Ormsary	Barr Water		NR 6610 3576	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Pennygowan	Aros River		NM 5585 4474	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Pennygowan	River Forsa (Mull)		NM 6000 4331	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Scaddle	River Scaddle		NN 0233 6853	3	no change
3	3	3	3	3	Sunart	Carnoch River		NM 8352 6071	3	no change

How to submit your views

By law, we are required to publish notice of the proposals and invite representations or objections to them.

If you wish to submit a view on the above proposed gradings you should:

Email: salmonandrecreationalfisheries@gov.scot

Or write to:

Salmon and Recreational Fisheries

PO Box 24196

Edinburgh

EH7 9GJ

You should submit your views between 11 August and 10 September 2021.

Background to the assessment

The conservation status of stocks is assessed on a river by river basis, except for those areas where fishery catch cannot be assigned to individual rivers. In such cases rivers are combined to form assessment groups. The conservation status of each stock is defined by the probability of the stock meeting its conservation limit over a five-year period. Rather than a simple pass or fail, stocks are allocated to one of three grades, each with its own recommended management actions:

Category	Probability of Meeting Conservation Limit (CL)	Advice
1	At least 80%	Exploitation is sustainable therefore no additional management action is currently required. This recognises the effectiveness of existing non-statutory local management interventions.
2	60-80%	Management action is necessary to reduce exploitation: catch and release should be promoted strongly in the first instance. The need for mandatory catch and release will be reviewed annually.
3	Less than 60%	Exploitation is unsustainable therefore management action, including mandatory catch and release (all methods), is required to reduce exploitation.

Changes from the 2021 assessment

The assessment for the 2022 season has followed the methodology developed in previous years. No new rivers or groups have been added for this year’s assessment.

While the methodology has not changed for the 2022 season, the assessment has been made using the most up to date data available from fish counters and catch returns from the 2020 fishing season. The 2020 fishing season was affected by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic which inevitably led to a reduction in “rod-effort” and the numbers of fish caught.

Although it is not possible to fully account for the complexity of the pandemic and its impact on rod fishing, local information was used to develop methods which allow its impact to be accounted for in stock assessments for each river or group of rivers. This ensures that the outcomes of the assessment are based on the best available information. A paper on methods for accounting for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adult salmon stock estimates in Scotland was published by Marine Scotland Science earlier this year.

Proposed river gradings for the 2022 season

The proposed river gradings can be viewed for each river or group of rivers in the tables above.

You may also check the proposed 2022 grading for individual rivers, or more detailed information for any of the rivers.

The overall position, and the net effect of the various changes is summarised in the table below:

Category	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022 (Proposed)
1	47	28	48	36	36	35
2	48	21	30	34	35	37
3	73	122	95	103	102	101

The detailed changes for the coming year are:

Eight rivers or groups rise one grade from the previous year. Of these, six systems will no longer require catch and release. These are:

River Ailort
River Etive
Water of Girvan
River Leven (Inverness-shire)
Water of Luce
River Morar

Eight systems fall one grade, including five rivers which will become mandatory catch and release fisheries in 2022. These are:

Kerry and Badachro group
Laxford and Gleann Dubh
Casablhat and Tamanabhaigh
River Lochy
North Uist Lochs

As in previous years, we propose that River Leven (Dunbartonshire), assessed at grade 1, should be awarded grade 2 status to reflect the lower grading of a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in the catchment – Endrick Water; and

The River Teith SAC is assessed at grade 1 while the Forth is a grade 2. However, the situation is complicated by the overlap between the areas (the Teith SAC extends into the River Forth) and we again propose that we should use the lower of the 2 grades for both areas, as we did for 2021.

Proposed regulations

The Conservation of Salmon (Scotland) Regulations 2016, as amended, set out the regime for the regulation of salmon fishing in Scotland. In general terms the regulations:

prohibit the retention of salmon caught in coastal waters;
permit the killing of salmon within inland waters where stocks are above a defined conservation limit – i.e. those rivers accorded category 1 or 2 status for the fishing season; and
require mandatory catch and release of salmon in areas which are below their defined conservation limit following the assessment of salmon stocks – i.e. those rivers accorded category 3 status for the season.

For the 2022 season, the Scottish Government will bring forward amending regulations which will replace the current Schedule 2. This schedule details the specific inland waters which are subject to the prohibition on retaining salmon.

No other changes are currently proposed for the 2022 season.

River Tweed

Separate legislation and arrangements are in place for the management of salmon and freshwater fisheries in the River Tweed district. The Tweed Regulation (Salmon Conservation) (No. 2) Order 2016 (“the Tweed No. 2 Order”) came into force on 1 April 2017 and made provision to regulate the taking of salmon in the district. In effect the Order:

prohibits the retention of salmon caught in coastal waters in the Tweed district; and
allows the retention of salmon caught in the Tweed and all inland waters in the district as defined in article 2(1)(a) of the Order.

The outcome of the conservation assessment for the Tweed for the 2022 season again accords the river Category 1 status. In the light of this, the Scottish Government does not propose to amend the legislation as a result of the latest assessment and the Tweed No. 2 Order will remain in force.