In this edition:
Outcomes from the AGM:
Salmon in the Classroom
OPENING DAY 2025
Introduction
The AGM was held in the Wilkie Memorial Hall on Sunday 12th January. Committee presented reports on 2024 activities, catches, permits and the accounts. A draft minute of the meeting will be discussed at our first Ordinary Committee Meeting of 2025 and then we will make this available on the website.
Permits 2025
Click here to get started on your new 2025 season ticket:
Pricing was set for 2025 at the following rates:
Adult - £55
Senior Citizen - £40
Junior 14-18 - £10
Junior U14 - Free
One member felt that the decision to set rates prior to the AGM was in breach of the club constitution and raised a point of order. Committee accepted that this had not been ideal and explained that in order to get the new digital permits in place, it had to set prices. The increase in the Senior Citizen price was made to bring it into line with similar concession prices in other clubs. Committee had felt that the new price for a whole season’s fishing for salmon, sea trout and brown trout was still very reasonable and had thought it would be uncontroversial. We appreciate on reflection that setting the price at AGM has been normal practice and accept the point of order as valid. However, it was also accepted that a decision had to be made to avoid delays to the new system and the decision on pricing was approved. We hope that this does not cause undue issues for our Senior Citizens.
Hatchery
At last year’s AGM it was agreed to look at possibilities for an EAA hatchery due to concern about trout numbers in the river. After research and discussion with a number of other hatcheries and Marine Scotland, committee felt that it could not proceed with a hatchery as there was neither the location, the personnel nor the funding available to set up, manage and sustain it for future years. In discussion of this at this year’s AGM some felt that there were still possibilities and practicalities to be explored especially in the context of the continued apparent decline in sea trout catches. A majority voted to keep this on the agenda. Former EAA Secretary David Farmer offered to do some further research on the matter and report back to committee on feasibility.
Changes to Bag Limit
The meeting discussed other solutions to the issue of declining trout numbers and a proposal to reduce the daily bag limit on trout from 3 fish to 1 was presented. It was suggested that if there were concerns about the decline in fish catches (particularly sea trout) it did not make sense to continue to argue for such a high daily fish-kill. All present agreed. It was pointed out that the Tay Board rule for the Tay System is catch and release for all sea trout and that as our lease for EAA Crown waters follows this policy, this should become the norm for all our waters. The motion was amended to a bag limit of 1 brown trout with catch and release for sea trout and this was passed unanimously.
The river remains a CAT 3 river for salmon and as such all salmon caught must be safely returned to the water.
The club rules have been amended to reflect the changes. Click button below for details.
Water Quality
One member requested a discussion about pollution to be on the agenda for the AGM. Everyone agreed that this was perhaps the single most important issue for the health of the river. Committee has been looking at this over the past 2 years in partnership with others on RESP.
Monitoring: EAA member Alastair Grierson has now collected a year’s worth of quarterly data at 6 sites measuring temperature, pH, conductivity, nitrates, nitrites, phosphates and alkalinity. This now gives us a baseline to then measure any pollution events we are concerned about and open a conversation with SEPA about how to improve things. We now have a contact at SEPA, Tom Coy, who has agreed to share historic chemical and biological data with us on the Eden. Unfortunately, SEPA cut backs mean that staff no longer have much time to devote to this.
Reporting: committee members have been reporting and following up incidents that have occurred over the course of the last year or two - in particular cloudy and oily discharges from a Scottish Water surface drain at Prestonhall Industrial Estate. For data protection reasons we do not have all the details of the actions they have taken however, there has been recent action to investigate incidents by Scottish Water. They have done tests to source the discharges and contacted the relevant businesses on the estate. They have then done follow up tests and found no further issue at present. We will keep on the case!
The following actions were agreed at the meeting: (a) Alastair will contact Tom Coy again about the missing data; (b) he will also arrange an informal meeting for members and others interested in supporting us to improve our water quality monitoring; (c) Committee will do its best to keep everyone informed on the Facebook Page of any actions taken.
Taking Action: members can help by letting us know if they are interested in getting more involved or simply by REPORTING any incident they see to the SEPA HOTLINE. Please let us know if you do this so that we can also follow it up.
Salmon in the Classroom
Salmon in the Classroom
In early February, Tay Board Fisheries Officer, Marek Wolf, will be visiting two River Eden primary schools - Pitlessie and Castlehill - with a wee gift. Salmon will leave each school with a mini fridge containing 100 fertilised salmon eggs.
The eggs will be looked after by the children until they are ready to return to the river as fry. Later, we hope that Marek and his team will do some electrofishing with each school to see how the fry are getting on. This is something EAA has been keen to set up for a while as a great educational tool for encouraging young people’s understanding of, and connection to, their local river. This initiative has been made possible through the support of Tay Rivers Trust and Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, both partners with EAA in the River Eden Sustainability Partnership (RESP).
Opening Day 2025 - 15th Feb 2025
Opening Day 2025 - Feb 15th 2025
As usual, members will gather at Dairsie to bless the river and announce the opening of fishing for the season. Please meet at Dairsie Bridge car park at 10.30am if you would like to come along. Afterwards you can cast a line or take part in a bit of riverside litter picking.
ALL WELCOME!