River Ericht, Blairgowrie
Weirs.
Red – Light Alert for ascending adult wild salmon
Issued on 3rd May 2025
Using SEPA data, weather forecast, and fish behaviour in
previous years we have
reached Red-Light Alert conditions for adult salmon to
ascend safely over the
weirs.
The good news is that this is not an alarming situation, and
no action is required yet.
The new river management measures in place this year are
operating well and have
resulted in a greater volume of water going down the main
river. These are: SEPA’s
reduction of allowable abstraction during this period of
smolt migration to “Good
Status”, CAR licence holders agreeing to not dredge the
lade, and Westmill intake being
closed.
In previous years at this red-light stage there was not
enough water for fish to ascend
the weir.
Within the past 48 hrs fish have been seen above the weirs
having got through safely.
All is OK for now, but the situation may deteriorate if
levels continue to drop.
Update on smolts
The new management measures in place at the lade have
enabled safe passage. Large
numbers of smolts have been observed descending safely, and
less predation seen. It
seems the lack of snow melt and warmer water temperatures
have caused smolts to
move earlier – we hope most are safely past Blair now.
Acknowledgments
The situation is being managed daily by Mike Brown,
Operations Manager TDSFB and his
team of Fishery Officers. Much of this work has been done
voluntarily out of office
hours, for which I am extremely grateful.
Also, thanks to Ashgrove Mill and Westmill for their
understanding and cooperation,
which is hugely benefiting the wild salmon.
Thank you all
Jerry Saunders
Tay Rivers Trust
