Scottish salmon scheme nets nature award

The Conservation of Atlantic Salmon in Scotland (CASS) project was one of five recognised for its work. It was set up to improve the habitat of fish on eight rivers around the country - the Tweed, Dee, South Esk, Tay, Spey, Moriston, Bladnoch and Oykel.

Scottish Natural Heritage said the scheme had seen groups "pulling together to reach a common goal".

The works of CASS were honoured by LIFE, a European Commission programme that supports environmental and nature conservation projects.

Over four years more than 200 practical actions were taken on the ground to help reverse the decline. The removal of man-made 25 obstacles in rivers and streams opened up 150km of salmon habitat, allowing salmon to return to parts of river systems that had been inaccessible for many years. Over 70,000 square metres of spawning habitat in streams was restored to allow the salmon to release their eggs. Commercial salmon netting was also halted on one river and another two rivers were restocked with wild fish

Denise Reed of SNH said: "Scotland is a stronghold for the Atlantic salmon in Europe and several of our rivers rank among the most famous for salmon fishing in the world.

"From both conservation and a fisheries perspective, it was vital to work together to do what we could to stop the decline of salmon."