Newsletter - October 2026

Apologies for the lack of a summer newsletter! The Secretary has had a busy summer and just didn’t have time!

Thank you for your support this season! With the end of the season nearly upon us, here are a few updates:

CATCH RETURNS

Can we please remind you all to complete your catch return as promptly as possible.  This includes NIL returns to count fishing days even if you caught nothing.

You can do this using the online form or by downloading the form from the catch return page on the website.  If you cannot access the form in this way, please contact the Secretary, Michael Farrell - email eaasecretary2022@gmail.com  He can send you out a paper form.

Remember that this is a condition of your permit.  EAA is required to submit a catch report to Marine Scotland while returns to the Tay Board and the owners of all our leased water, including the Crown Estates are expected too.  It is important that these are as accurate as possible.

COMMITTEE FOR SEASON 2027

As a few of our current members are stepping down this season, we are looking for some new committee members to join us.

If this is something that interests you and you’d like to get more involved, please email or direct message:

Scott Macleod scottmacleod100@gmail.com 07944 737237

Michael Farrell eaasecretary2022@gmail.com 07838 820659

We will contact you privately to invite you along to our next committee meeting on Sunday 24th October. This will give you the opportunity to find out a little more about what’s involved and see if it’s something you’d like to be part of. You should also consider who would propose and second you as a committee member. 

Following the meeting, if you are still keen to get involved, please confirm this by writing to the Secretary, Michael Farrell or the Chair, Scott Macleod at least 7 days before the AGM, outlining why you would like to get involved and the skills you would be willing to offer to the association.  Please also include the names of your proposer and seconder.  This can be done via email or by post.  Final decisions will be taken at the AGM and if a vote is required, this will be carried by a majority.

If you’re interested, please don’t be shy — we’d love to hear from you! 

AGM 2026

The AGM for 2026 will take place on Sunday 6th December in the Wilkie Memorial Hall, Pitlessie.  The meeting will involve presentation of the annual reports on activities, catches, membership and the accounts as well as the draw for the Stan Reid Memorial Cup for the best fish of the season and a prize draw for a free permit for 2027 (open to everyone who completed a catch return). In addition, we ask members to submit proposals for the coming season.  If you have a proposal for 2027, please send it to The Secretary at eaasecretary2022@gmail.com by 15th November.

Arrive 6.30pm for informal chat and a cuppa.  Meeting starts at 7pm.  All welcome.

Kind regards,

Eden Angling Association

www.edenangling.org

Newsletter - May 2026

How’s the fishing?

It has been a pretty chilly month but, in recent days, anyone that has been out on the river will still have seen clouds of olives on the surface and seen a few rises beginning to appear. We have had some good reports of trout being caught, mostly smallish but very fat and healthy as well as a few nice sea trout. Some examples reported on Facebook or by word of mouth…

• Beautiful early season sea trout from Craig Hutton

• Several on dries from ex committee member Scott Doig

• 5 on weighted nymphs from Michael Farrell, current secretary (and about 10 more lost) at Pitlessie and ABN

• 20 so far from a father and son fishing the Haugh Park

• 4 including a two pound beauty from Mitchell Kay

• Cracking brownie from James Beaumont

It’s the time of year when most people buy their permits so if you haven’t done so already, here is the link to register with our digital permit system:

Once you get used to it, it’s really easy. Any difficulties, let us know using the contact form

Can we remind everyone to complete your catch returns?! The easiest way to do this is using this link

The Battle Against Invasives

We are delighted to confirm that a new Project Officer, dedicated to tackling invasive plant species and American mink in the River Eden catchment, has been appointed by the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative. Douglas Traynor, pictured below, started work on 7th April and has quickly got stuck in, forming a plan to implement a source-to-sea strategy to control giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan Balsam and American skunk cabbage.

The Angling Association played a key role in securing this appointment through its work with the River Eden Sustainability Partnership (RESP) to recruit and train volunteers, purchase equipment and PPE and engage with landowners. This means Douglas has come into a situation where there is a strategy in place and he can hit the ground running. This year he will be employing contractors and working with landowners and volunteers to treat giant hogweed from the source as far down as Crawford Priory on the Eden as well as tackling a substantial outbreak in the headwaters of the Motray Water identified through RESP survey work. In the autumn, he will concentrate on stem injecting outbreaks of Japanese knotweed but also engage with people about the following season, hopefully extending treatment further downstream and beyond Cupar.

Controlling American Mink

Douglas will also be surveying the area and putting out traps for American mink and is keen to develop a trapping network. If you are interested in supporting Douglas with any of this work, then don’t hesitate to get in touch with him. He will be looking for people to report sightings, monitor traps (which can now be done remotely) and potentially also, if you have an air rifle license, dispatch any trapped mink.

You can also report mink sightings on this map on the RESP website or directly to Douglas.

Or get involved through this link:

Riverwoods

As a partner of RESP, EAA is involved in the Riverwoods Blueprint project. Grant funding from Riverwoods to Sustainable Cupar has paid for woodland consultants Gordon Walker and Andy Hines, to work with Claire Williams of Fife Climate Forest, and local landowners, to create a woodland development plan for the catchment. The plan aims to secure 15-20 actual planting projects ready to go by 2027 and a plan for more in the pipeline. The project is already well on its way to its target. The aim is to support greater resilience to climate change - holding back water in times of flood and storing it in summer drought conditions. If there are enough small projects like this in the upper catchment, this should help to regulate water flow in the main stem of the river. There are other benefits from bankside planting including creating cover for fish as well as shade to cool temperatures which is vital particularly to our migratory salmon and sea trout. Planting like this has to be carefully discussed and agreed with landowners so as to avoid taking high value land out of production or offering other ecological and economic benefits. Find out more

leaky dams at Glassarts Den

Another approach to flood resilience while improving biodiversity is to create leaky dams. Auchtermuchty and Gateside Community Council and their local resilience group have just carried out a project like this at at Glassarts Den on the Glassarts Burn. The project was devised by community councillor, Andy Heer and local engineer Euan Band. Between them they drew up a plan to temporarily stem the flow of the Glassarts Burn during extreme rainfall events. Fortunately, the glen lends itself to such a solution and the landowners are a local charitable trust, the Macduff Trust, whose trustees were enthusiastic about the project.   Multiple examples like this across the catchment could do just enough in storm conditions to slow down flood waters reaching the river channel and reduce the peak flow, avoiding devastating consequences for communities. Meanwhile the dams do not impede flow and so important trout spawning grounds are protected.

Spring Newsletter - March 2026

Brown Trout Season begins on Monday 16th March!

Some hardy anglers have already been out in search of a spring salmon or sea trout but not long now until Monday 16th March when the season is open for Brown Trout too! We thought it was time to crack out this photo of this chubby cracker from a couple of years back.

If you haven’t already purchased your permit for the 2026 season, it’s easy to start a new membership or renew your permit at this link:

Or scan the QR code…

River Maintenance Work

Those of you have been out fishing already will have seen the new club posters in the noticeboard at the cottages car park at Kemback as well as repairs to the walkways and stiles as you head downstream. Committee members will continue this work as the season progresses and as usual, there will be some path clearance to improve access as the vegetation starts to get up.

Looking after our river and its fish

As most people reading this are aware, Atlantic Salmon is a critically endangered species globally. and the River Eden is classed as POOR making it a CAT 3 river again for 2026 for salmon which means all fish caught must be returned.

This is calculated as an estimate of the number of returning fish and, in particular, spawners giving an ‘egg requirement’. This has only reached an average of 25.7% of what would be expected over the past 5 years. This is shown in the diagram below:

PREVENTING POACHING

For this reason the Scottish Government has recently stepped up its action to protect salmon by significantly increasing penalties for serious fish crime. Details can be found at this link

Eden Angling Association and its members can contribute to the efforts to stop poaching by reporting anything they see that concerns them whether it is an angler fishing illegally or equipment found bankside. Recently vice president Colin Jeffrey found a cast net on the bank which is clearly illegal to use to catch fish on the Eden. This was reported to the Tay Board and Project Officer and Bailiff, Marek Wolf collected it. Marek has made it clear that Tay officers will be patrolling the river this year and all committee members when out also act as Bailiffs. Please help us to keep an eye out for this kind of thing and report it to the Wildlife Crime Officer on 101 or contact the Bailiffs:

Mike Brown 07748968919

Craig Duncan 07748338667

Marek Wolf 07816 159183

This cast net was found bankside, reported to the Tay Board and collected by their officer.

RESP Update

We have some important updates about our partnership with the River Eden Sustainability Partnership.

1. Invasive Non Native Species

   EAA members have been involved for a long time trying to get rid of invasive plant species from the river bank - especially giant hogweed. In 2022 this was identified as a signifiant pressure in our Wild Trout Trust Report. Since then we have worked with the River Eden Sustainability Partnership to train up volunteers to treat invasive plant species as well as purchase a storage unit and a range of equipment for use by volunteers. In addition, RESP was funded to carry out surveys of the location of key invasive plant species on the mainstem Eden and Motray and 250m up all tributaries. The results of this can be viewed here:

   RESP Storymap

We are now pleased to announce that on the back of this preparatory work, the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI) has decided to extend operations south to the River Eden and Earn. They are in the process of appointing a project officer to manage this work. Invasive plants Giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam and Japanese knotweed will be the target plants in this catchment-wide, source-to-sea initiative but the project will also include mink control. This work will have multiple benefits for the river and biodiversity but also for the safety of anglers and others using the river for recreation. A seasonal worker will also be appointed. Funding is in place for 2 years with 50% from NatureScot and 50% from Offshore Wind community benefit funding. There is a strong chance that a further 10 years funding will be provided. SISI operate by working with a combination of contractors, landowners and volunteers so if anyone is interested in doing the training or getting involved, please use this contact form to get in touch.

2. Videos

2 new videos can now be viewed on the homepage of the RESP website.

Introduction to RESP was filmed with funding from Bioregioning Tayside, another catchment restoration initiative which has been supportive of the work of the partnership.

The Moor Road Project

The second one was produced by the Crown Estates who funded RESP’s Moor Road Project to reduce flooding into Cupar from this ancient path between Ceres and Cupar.

3. Riverwoods Blueprint Project

RESP partner Sustainable Cupar has secured funding for the partnership to be part of this national initiative to create a catchment woodland plan for the Eden and Motray. Through the funding, woodland consultants Walker Hines Woodland Services have been appointed to work with Fife Climate Forest for the next 12 months to scope out the potential for riverside woodland. It is hoped that at least 20 fully scoped planting projects will be agreed with willing landowners over the course of the year. Tree planting in the right place can have multiple benefits for the river and its habitats: It reduces erosion by holding banks together; it provides shade and cover which in turn reduces water temperature at a time when climate change has increased them. This suits our cold-water-loving trout and salmon. The cover also provides refuge from predators like fish-eating birds, reducing their impact. Trailing cover helps to develop in-channel diversity and this in turn creates the different habitats needed by fish at the different stages of development.

Opening Day 2026 - Saturday 21st February

Nearly there! The season for salmon and sea trout begins this year on Monday 16th February. As a result we have decided to hold our annual official opening ceremony on Saturday 21st February at 10am.

Meet at the EAA car park at Dairsie Bridge at 10am. Our President Bill Wardlaw will be there to reluctantly bless the river with a tot of whisky and then members (with permits!) are invited to walk the river and have a cast or do some litter picking. All welcome!

 

Winter Newsletter January 2026

Happy New Year and Thank You!

To all members who supported the Association throughout 2025, we hope you had a great fishing season followed by a restful festive season! 2025 was a year of very low water for most of the year. The river hovered around the bottom of the ‘normal’ range and dipped below into ‘significant water scarcity’ on more than one occasion. These conditions were not ideal for fishing and this is reflected in the number of fishing days reported in catch returns. Thankfully this improved at the back end of the season with many anglers doing very well at this time. Who knows what the coming season will bring but the new pattern of summer drought and winter storms is likely to continue.

Permits 2026

We are delighted that so many members chose to use the new digital system introduced last year. If you purchased a season membership last year, you do not have to input all their personal data again. In fact you can book your new membership for 2026 NOW!  Your profile should now show a RENEW sign and all you need to do is click on this and follow the steps to purchase your new permit which is set to start on 15th February.

It was also great to see a higher proportion of young people signed up this year – both the free U14 ticket and the Junior 14-18. We are however, keen to persuade some of our senior citizens to try the digital permit. Committee members are available to provide guidance on this and once your membership is up and running it is very simple to renew.

If you are registering for the first time, please go to the permits page which takes you through all the steps.

Please use our contact form or the details of any committee member if you would like help with this.

AGM 2025

This year’s AGM was attended by 19 members including a full turn out of the committee. This was more than last year but still low considering that there are over 200 season ticket holders and 500+ followers on Facebook. It would be great to have more of you attend in future.

Last year’s proposals

There were 3 proposals last year and progress with each was reviewed at the meeting.

Hatchery

There was lengthy discussion of the practicalities of an Eden hatchery for trout as a possible solution to declines in trout, particularly sea trout, numbers. This focused on the analysis of previous secretary David Farmer. Committee will continue to explore the issue. However, we do not have the capacity, the ongoing funding or even clear agreement on the matter. It was agreed that we would continue to concentrate on trying to improve habitat on the river including in spawning burns where possible.

new bag limit

All were agreed that the reduction of the bag limit to 1 brown trout over 12” and catch and release for all salmon and sea trout had been a sensible measure to support stocks. This rule will continue for 2026.

Action on Pollution

All members are encouraged to report any incidents to SEPA and/or Scottish Water. In the meantime, training has been provided for volunteers to monitor water quality along the river. This work is supported by St Andrews Aquarium as a new partner in RESP.

New proposals for 2026

3 new proposals were put forward by members for the coming year:

Sunday fishing UPDATED Jan 21 2026

This item produced the most discussion with the pro’s and con’s aired in detail. In the end, the meeting voted to introduce Sunday fishing for brown trout only with light tackle, by 8 votes to 4 with 7 abstaining. A final decision was due to be made about any other restrictions to methods at the first committee meeting in January prior to Opening Day on Monday 16th February. However, the discussion that followed showed that we would not be able to be ready for this change in time. The committee will continue to explore all possible options over the coming months, and any updates will be brought forward for discussion and voting at the next AGM.

Habitat improvements

It was proposed that the club seeks to carry out instream works (e.g. add boulders/ logs) at selected locations to increase flow diversity and improve habitat for fish. This received unanimous approval and committee will discuss locations and permissions.

working with landowners

Following concerns about the way in which recent drainage and bank stabilisation works had been carried out on the river, it was proposed that EAA set up a discussion with relevant land owners and their representatives to discuss how future works might meet the requirements of the landowner while also improving habitat for fish. Again this received unanimous approval.

Further information

If you would like to view all the papers from this year’s AGM these are available here

Please note that this document is password protected. The password can be obtained from the Secretary. The minutes of this meeting will be published in due course.

The Stan Reed Memorial Cup

The cup this year was awarded to John Wilson who not only caught the largest salmon at 15lb but also caught more salmon than anyone else as well as a 9lb sea trout! Congratulations!

The Catch Return Prize Draw

The name drawn this year was Junior (14-18) member Ewan McGhee who will now receive a free permit for the 2026 season. Congratulations!

New Committee

The committee was strengthened this year with the addition of 2 new members, Alastair Grierson who also becomes Membership Secretary, and Jamie Lafferty.. A warm welcome to them. Any member of the committee can be contacted for help and advice using the details on the contact page

AGM 2025 - Sunday 14th December 2025, Pitlessie Hall, 7pm

Dear Members

Sincere apologies for the lack of activity on the website over the past season. Committee volunteers have been very busy and so it has been hard to keep up.

We hope to see you on Sunday evening for our AGM as advertised on the Facebook page - The Wilkie Memorial Hall, Pitlessie, 7pm. The club cannot function without the support of members so please come along to hear about the past season and share your views on the way forward!

If you would like to review the papers before the meeting, please contact the secretary for the password to the file

Opening Day - This Saturday 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 (as long as you have your new permit!!) or take part in a bit of riverside litter picking.

ALL WELCOME!

Winter Newsletter Part 2 - January 2025

In this edition:

• Outcomes from the AGM:

  • Permits 2025

  • Hatchery discussions

  • Change to bag limits

  • Water Quality

• 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!

AGM 2024 - Wilkie Memorial Hall, Pitlessie - Sunday 12th January 2025 7pm

The Association Annual General Meeting will be held this Sunday in Pitlessie at the Wilkie Memorial Hall. Members wishing to view the papers prior to the meeting can view them by downloading the file at the link below and then emailing the Secretary for the password eaasecretary2022@gmail.com

The weather forecast is not too bad for Sunday evening so hopefully we can get a good turnout of members and anyone else interested in supporting the club to hear our reports on Season 2024, take part in the discussion about the coming season and elect the committee.

We would love to see you there.

Winter Newsletter January 2025

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all our members and a huge thank you to you for your support over the 2024 season. The 2024 season was a lot more productive than the previous year - there were fewer weather extremes of flood and drought. As a result, there were more fishable days and catches are up for salmon and brown trout - though not for sea trout. There will be more detail on this provided at the AGM on 12th January.

Ringing the Changes - New System for Permits

Use the button above or the QR code to get started, add your details and buy your permit.

The help video below will help if you get stuck, or use our contact page to ask one of the committee.

The 2025 Season will begin with a big change for the Association - a move to a digital system for permits as described in the Autumn Newsletter. Use the ‘membership registration button or QR code above to get started.

Over the course of the last two years, committee members have investigated a number of options and taken advice from other angling associations who have already made the shift. Following this research, the committee decided to use a platform called Clubmate.

This has multiple benefits

For members:

• Easy to book season and day permits anytime on any device

• Permit accessible through an app on your phone or device

• Easy online payment of the fee

• Better communication with the club

• Easy renewal - enter your details once and you will then get automatic reminders

• Forgot your phone or don’t want to carry it while fishing? No worries, bailiffs can check your membership on their phone.

For the club:

• Reduces admin workload by about 90% - less paperwork and form filling, more fishing!

• Frees up the Ticket Secretary to help with improvement works

• Cheaper - more resources can go into improvement works

• Easier reporting and accounting

• Easier to check membership while out on the river

Here is a video guiding you through the process:

It is simple to set up and use on any device - phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer and then use the Clubmate App to manage your membership, make bookings and keep your details up to date whilst on the go. You can download the apps at the links below.

Click here to download the iOS app on the App Store

Click here to download the Android app via Google Play

Dates for your diary:

12th January - AGM - Wilkie Memorial Hall, Pitlessie 7pm

We look forward to seeing you at the 2024 AGM of the Association on Sunday 12th January at 7pm in Pitlessie. We hope as many of you as possible will be able to attend. The AGM papers will be available for members prior to the meeting. We will post a link to a password protected pdf in a few days time. If you have any proposals for the club in 2025, there is still time to make a suggestion. You can do this by emailing the Secretary eaasecretary2022@gmail.com or, even better, by completing our survey which is still open (see below).

15th February - Opening Day for salmon & sea trout

The Committee would like to invite any interested members to come to our annual Opening Ceremony on Saturday 15th February at 10.30am at Dairsie Bridge car park. After a quick photo opportunity and the traditional blessing of the river with some good quality whisky from a quaich, we invite you to have a cast on the river or alternatively just take a river walk, maybe do some litter picking.

15th March - Start of Brown Trout Season

End of Season Survey

The end of season survey is still open until Wed 8th January. We have a good few responses already but the more the better! It only takes a couple of minutes to complete.

Autumn Newsletter

Thank you to everyone for your support of the Association in 2024!

In this edition…

• 2024 - What a season!

• Catch Returns

• Looking forward to 2025

• Member Survey

• EAA and the River Eden Sustainability Partnership (RESP)

2024 - What A Season!

As the season draws to a close, it is safe to say that it has been a great season for both brown trout and salmon anglers - although sea trout seem to have been thinner on the ground. Informal feedback from members to committee and on the Facebook page suggest that the brownies being caught are in great condition - fat, healthy and good-fighting - and average size has been bigger than last season. Trout at 1lb have been regularly caught and some of 2-3lb not uncommon. So, despite ongoing concern about water quality, lack of ranunculus and loss of invertebrates, somehow our Eden trout are managing to get good feeding.

Like most rivers this year, salmon numbers have been up significantly and August seemed to be the month for the biggest runs of fresh fish. Last year’s total catch of 17 salmon and grilse was really worrying but partly due to the harsh weather conditions where the river was unfishable due to low or high water conditions. This year, ONE angler has landed at least 13 salmon on his own! The 5 months of autumn and winter rain seemed to replenish the system and although levels have still been low, they have been more steady. Any lift in levels and a good tide have brought the fish in. There is also a suggestion that the reduced pressure on salmon at sea during covid means that they have grown more successfully and so are returning to the river this year in higher numbers.

So, we will see what happens when the actual numbers come in. Which brings us to the next item…

Catch Returns!

Thank you, thank you, thank you! to everyone who has already completed their catch return. It makes a real difference.

Please, please, please! If you haven’t done it yet, make sure you get your catch returns in as quickly as possible and certainly by 30th November. There are lots of ways to do this and it is a requirement of your permit! As a condition of our leases we have to make returns to all our proprietors as well as the official ones to the Tay Board and Marine Scotland.

There are lots of ways to do this including the online link or the QR code below, filling in the form and sending to the Secretary by email, or a photo, by post. You’ll find a copy of the catch return form issued with your permit on the links page. Make sure your permit number is on the form so that you can be included in the PRIZE DRAW for a FREE permit next season! And please add your email if you want to be contacted about next season’s permit.

View fullsize

Looking Forward to 2025

Permits - A new system

Recently on Facebook, we announced that Committee had decided to move to an online permit system for members. This has been discussed for years but never put in place. This is now definitely going ahead. Committee members carried out extensive research and discovered that one of the most popular and effective platforms for online permits was Clubmate. Online permits are now pretty standard at most clubs and have a number of benefits. Over 50 members have already signed up and will be contacted in due course, with the first 25 to put their names forward receiving a 10% discount. Here is a short introductory video:

For members:

• Easy to book season and day permits anytime on any device

• Permit accessible through an app on your phone or device

• Easy online payment of the fee

• Better communication with the club

• Easy renewal - enter your details once and you will then get automatic reminders

• Forgot your phone or don’t want to carry it while fishing? No worries, bailiffs can check your membership on their phone.

For the club:

• Reduces admin workload by about 90% - less paperwork and form filling, more fishing!

• Frees up the Ticket Secretary to help with improvement works

• Cheaper - more resources can go into improvement works

• Easier reporting and accounting

• Easier to check membership while out on the river

Prices:

Prices will remain basically the same with an increase in the senior citizen season permit.

• Adult Season - £55

• Senior Citizen Season - £40

• Junior 14-18 Season - £10

• U14 - Free

• Day Ticket £15

There will be a small surcharge of £5 for anyone who wishes to retain a card as well as or instead of the digital permit. We believe that this is still incredibly good value for a great wee river for a whole year.

AGM 2024 season

The AGM is coming up in the close season. Due to the absence of the Secretary/Treasurer, Michael Farrell, who will be away in Australia for the month of November, we have decided to postpone the AGM until January. The new date is 12th January. This will give sufficient time to prepare the annual reports and accounts reconciliation necessary.

Proposals

Last year there were 3 proposals and these will be reported on at the AGM:

• develop a detailed maintenance and management plan for paths and access to the main beats on EAA waters.

• continue to be part of the wider River Eden Sustainability Partnership to look at catchment-scale river restoration and control of invasive plant species.

• explore the development of a brown trout hatchery

This year, as usual, we are seeking new proposals from members.

Please complete the survey using the link below to share your views.

Committee membership

As in most years there will be some shifts in Committee membership so if you would like to join, please complete the questions in the survey about joining, with a short statement on the skills and experience you could add to the running of the club

TAY Board Update

In early October, around 5000 parr raised from the reconditioned kelts from Eden-broodstock salmon, were returned to the river. At the end of October or early November, Tay Board river officers will be out to take new broodstock to strip and fertilise at the Almondbank Hatchery. The Board hold a licence to take 6 fish. This will continue the programme started several years ago. In 2025, we should see some of the stocked fish returning to the river. They should be recognisable from their clipped adipose fin, so please report it if you catch one! We will return to this in a future newsletter.

EAA and The River Eden Sustainability Partnership (RESP)

Background

There has been a bit of concern expressed by some on the Facebook page and in informal conversations about the involvement of the club as a partner in RESP. The additional time spent on this initiative has certainly taken a lot of the Secretary’s time. It is also true that recent newsletters on here have had a lot of information about RESP. This has perhaps blurred the boundaries. As a result, from now on, most updates about RESP activities will be posted on the RESP website or social media rather than on here.

To be clear though, RESP is not currently a constituted organisation but an association of partners. The founding partners were EAA, Sustainable Cupar, St Andrews University and Fife Coast & Countryside Trust. New partners coming on board are Tay Rivers Trust, Buglife Scotland, James Hutton Institute and possibly the Atlantic Salmon Trust.

All of these organisations are seeking to work together on common aims and objectives as equals and each has the freedom to carry on with other aims and objectives that do not align. EAA is therefore under no obligation to agree with proposals put forward by RESP but does have the opportunity to work alongside and provide insight into projects from our perspective. So far all the activities of RESP do in fact align with EAA objectives to restore and conserve the river and improve habitat and biodiversity. Moreover, EAA involvement in RESP has been agreed at 2 consecutive AGMs.

Two important things that should improve things:

1. RESP is working to put a Project Officer in place - this should give our Secretary the time back to concentrate more on EAA!

2. Each organisation involved is trying to come up with Memoranda of Understanding so that their relationship to RESP is clear for everyone.

   To find out more about other recent activities go to www.riveredenfife.org

Finally, it was agreed in committee that EAA would be the fundholder for a new application to Crown Estates Scotland Environment Grant. This will contribute to a RESP partnership project with Tay Rivers Trust to prevent flooding in Cupar as well as reduce silt being flushed into the river and clogging redds. More information will be provided once we know of the success of the application.

Thank You!

Thank you for your support of the Association and we look forward to seeing you on the river in the close season. For now, it’s time to hang up the waders, sort out the tackle and get ready for the start of Season 2025. And maybe there is the small matter of the festive season coming up…

Tight lines to anyone who is out in these last few days before the season for salmon and sea trout closes on Thursday 31st October.

Summer Newsletter 2024

How’s The Fishing?

Summer is here and we are pleased to say that the river is fishing well. After the very cold spell in May reports from members were gloomy. However, the river then sprang into life and some cracking brownies have been caught on a variety of stretches including upstream from the ABN factory, on the stretch known as ‘The Jungle’ (be prepared for undergrowth!) and downstream from Dairsie including the stretch downstream from the Pooch to the Tattie Hole. Things have chilled down again and wind conditions challenging but hopefully we will get some good days in!

Beautiful, well-conditioned Eden brownie caught on a nymph by new season ticket holder Jamie Lafferty.

We were also delighted to hear that a 12lb salmon was caught and several others reported hooking up but failing to land similar fish. A combination of high water after the rain at the end of May and big tides has certainly brought some good fish into the river. Those fishing the estuary have been less positive and have noticed a distinct lack of sea trout entering the river although there have been some caught further upstream. Hopefully this will improve, given the right conditions.

Fraser Stoddart with a cracking 12lb Eden salmon

Improving Access

Over the past few weeks committee members and other helpers have been working hard, strimming and doing river maintenance work to improve access for anglers. Paths have been cut from the Pooch to the Tattie Hole, at Newmill, at the Jungle and then downstream to Cupar sewage works and upstream from Pitlessie to Ramornie. More is planned upstream from ABN to Springfield. Members involved have also been clearing hogweed where it is safe to do so. Thanks to committee members Colin Jeffrey, Scott Macleod, Cammy Spears, Dave Steven, Billy Collins and Bill Wardlaw (and anyone else who joined in!) for this work.

River Eden Sustainability Partnership (RESP)

The club is continuing to work with RESP on their Nature Restoration Fund Development Project. This has 3 main strands:

1. Surveys of the whole catchment to identify Invasive Non Native Species (INNS)

2. Surveys of habitat to identify opportunities for improvement.

3. Community engagement to encourage volunteers to get involved in supporting the river.

You can find out more at www.riveredenfife.org.

Recent activities have included:

Riverfly Invertebrate Monitoring

Monthly kick samples of invertebrates are now being monitored by around 16 volunteers at 4 sites: Strathmiglo, Pitlessie, Cupar and Dairsie. It is hoped to add 2 more (Gateside and Newmill) as more volunteers get involved. EAA Secretary Michael Farrell also did a Riverfly workshop with Pitlessie Primary School children which seemed to go down well. Unfortunately we picked up some invasive American signal crayfish in the sample - several very small juveniles and one mature specimen - all dispatched, removed from the site and all equipment checked, cleaned and dried to prevent any spread.

INNS Training

Committee members have tried for many years to control some of the hogweed that plagues the river banks on several stretches of our leased water. This is a thankless task but important as it makes access to the river much safer for all. They have been doing the same again this year but gradually we have been trying to make a bigger impact.

Over the past few months, through a combination of the EAA Crown Estates Environment Grant and RESP Nature Restoration Funding, 6 volunteers have been trained up to control invasive plants like giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed and Himalayan Balsam. These plants shade out our native plants and loosen the soil making it prone to erosion. As you will know, giant hogweed is also a health hazard, causing burns and blisters to skin from contact especially with exposure to sunlight.

The aim is to follow the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative approach - working closely with landowners and contractors to fund a long-term catchment-wide strategy to eradicate these plants from source to sea. During July the newly trained volunteers will be carrying out a practice treatment on the Motray Water as it was the first survey to be completed. They will then do as much as they can to tackle other areas in the catchment. However, it will be NEXT year, hopefully with further funding, that we will be able to begin the catchment wide effort.

If you are interested in doing the training in Pesticide Application, RESP we can put you through the course free of charge. All we ask in return is a contribution to efforts to control these species in future years. The course is 2 days + a 2.5 hour assessment on another day.

Please get in touch here>> if you would like to do the training and we will get you signed up.

Spring Newsletter 2024

In this newsletter:

• Brown Trout Season Around The Corner - Get Your Permit!

• River Eden Sustainability Partnership - Funding Success!

• Riverfly - training available

• Invasive Species and Habitat surveys - training available

• Landowner Meeting

• River Eden Day

Brown Trout Season Just Around the corner!

The brown trout season opens in less than a week’s time on 15th March. Hopefully as things warm up a bit, the bugs will get more lively and a few hatches will bring out a few eager brownies to a well presented flea! The beauty in this photo was caught last year by member Alan Greig. While catches reported were down last year, no-one could deny that the fish that were caught were all in top condition.

So if you haven’t got your permit yet, remember that they are available from all the usual outlets or from the Secretary by online BACS payment. All the details you need are on our permits page.

Brown trout caught by Alan Greig - beautifully marked and in great condition.

River Eden Sustainability Partnership (RESP)

Funding Success for RESP!

RESP has been awarded funding by Naturescot from the Nature Restoration Fund. The funds will be used to carry out surveys of the whole Eden and Motray catchments and tributaries - nearly 190km of water course.  They will create maps of landownership, invasive plant species and habitat improvement opportunities.  Over the course of the surveys, discussions will take place with landowners about how the river habitat might be improved.  This will hopefully lead to a catchment scale project to make the improvements but this will depend on further funding. Along with the other main partners, Sustainable Cupar and Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, The Association is playing an important part in this work, making sure that anglers’ voices are heard in the discussion about how to improve the river. As well as the survey work, we are looking for support from volunteers to help support some of the RESP initiatives. This includes Riverfly, an invertebrate monitoring project, water quality monitoring, tree planting and control of invasive species. Let us know if you would like to be involved by clicking on the button below.

Riverfly

The Riverfly programme is a nationwide initiative managed by Buglife Scotland. As part of this, volunteers take monthly kick-samples of invertebrates at selected sites on the river between April and October and then upload the results to the national Riverfly database. To become a Riverfly volunteer involves 2x 3 hour sessions, one online and one practical session on the river. The training is free and all equipment is provided.

We are very keen to get more EAA members involved. New online training sessions are available on 11th March, 10am - 1pm or 13th March 6-9pm with a practical session on the river on 21st April. Drop us a message if you would like to take part!

TWO MORE DATES ADDED: 25th March 10-1 OR 26th March 6-9pm

If interested you can contact Rebecca Lewis the organiser directly - rebecca.lewis@buglife.org.uk OR use the contact button below to send a message.

Invasive Species and Habitat Surveys

RESP is now in the process of contracting surveyors to carry out the work.  There will be more information about this soon.

In the meantime, we are working to create a bank of volunteers who will help with invasive plant species control. Again we are keen to get EAA members involved and so we are offering free herbicide training with all equipment provided. This could provide you with valuable qualifications in PA1/ PA6. In return, all we ask is a contribution to INNS management on the river. We are being advised on this by the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI) to develop a proper catchment-wide strategy with this where we work closely with landowners and work our way downstream from source to sea. It is going to take years to make the difference needed but the more people that get involved, the better.

Contact us if you are interested.

RESP Landowner Event

RESP’s first event was the landowner afternoon on Monday 12th Feb.  About 120 people came. The big turn out was largely due to the recent floods.  The landowners welcomed the chance to make their views clear to SEPA, Scottish Water and Fife Council’s lead on flooding. There has been a lot of positive feedback about the importance of taking a catchment wide approach to meet the needs everyone who lives, works and plays in the river catchment. There were some points of disagreement regarding how best to deal with the excessive amounts of silt in the river with many landowners in favour of cleaning out and maintaining the channels while SEPA cautioned against this as a long-term solution.

river eden day 2nd March, Cupar

EAA stall on River Eden Day at the Old Parish Centre

Gerry Farrell fly tying at River Eden Day on 2nd March

The River Eden Sustainability Partnership (RESP) put on a day of stalls, talks, films, music and kids activities at the Old Parish Centre on Saturday 2nd March. The Association had a stall with permits on sale, a display of tackle, a fly tying demo (thanks Gerry Farrell - brother of EAA Secretary, Michael) and a range of information about fishing on the river. There was second hand tackle available for free (if you completed the quiz) and for a donation if not and a sign up sheet for volunteers. A huge thank you to committee and members who supported the stall on the day, especially Alan Miller, Billy Collins and George Houston. Our Honorary President, Bill Wardlaw came along and brought old historic maps of the river at Cupar which drew great interest from the public. In the afternoon there was an excellent talk about the work of the Tweed Forum by Professor Chris Spray on natural flood management on Eddleston Water which has been very successful in flood attenuation and habitat improvement. Click the button below to view his talk:

Opening Day Ceremony

Just a few short days until the first day of the salmon and sea trout season! The Committee would like to invite any interested members to come to our annual Opening Ceremony on Thursday 15th February at 3.30pm at Dairsie Bridge car park. After a quick photo opportunity and the traditional blessing of the river with some good quality whisky from a quaich, we invite you to have a cast on the river or alternatively just take a river walk, maybe do some litter picking.

The Brown Trout season will begin on 15th March.

Remember to purchase your permit! At £55 for the season it is great value for some excellent fishing for salmon, sea trout and brown trout. Permits available now from the usual outlets.

2024 Permits On Sale Now!

It’s less than a month to go before the new season starts for salmon and sea trout and the new permits have arrived! They are being delivered to our usual outlets and are available from the Secretary by BACS. All the information about where to get them, costs etc. has been updated on the permits page.

Every permit bought pays for our rent and rates for the fishing beats we have the rights to. It also means you are supporting the Association in our work to improve the river. We are grateful to you for this support and hopeful that the weather conditions will be kinder to us this coming season!

Tight lines everyone!

Get ready for the new fishing season!

RESP Landowner Event - 12th February - Change of Venue

River Eden Sustainability Partnership (RESP)

Event for Landowners and Land Managers

Due to the high level of interest in this event, the venue has been changed to Letham Village Hall. See poster below. If you are attending, please sign up in advance. Link below and on poster.

Winter Newsletter

Happy New Year!

As we come to the end of 2023, the Association would like to thank all our members for supporting the club and the river for another season and wish you a very happy and fish-ful 2024. In terms of the fishing, the season had its challenges again with high temperatures and low flows in the summer and autumn storms causing spates. This severely reduced the number of fishable days. According to catch returns, days fished for salmon reduced by 50%. As a result, catches were down significantly. Let’s hope for a more productive season in 2024 - though as we know, this new pattern of weather is a result of climate change and is set to continue.

AGM

Thank you to those members who came to the AGM on a bitterly cold night on 3rd December. It was a positive meeting where some important decisions were made for the 2024 season. The full papers and minutes can be obtained by contacting the Secretary. The key decisions:

• It was agreed to develop a detailed maintenance and management plan for paths and access to the main beats on EAA waters. We will do our best to stick to this but it will need the help of the wider membership if it is to be successful. Thank you to those who signed up to help with this at the meeting.

• It was agreed to continue to be part of the wider River Eden Sustainability Partnership to look at catchment-scale river restoration and control of invasive plant species. More of this below.

• It was agreed to explore the development of a brown trout hatchery after ongoing concerns about a perceived lack of juvenile fish in the river.

permits

Permits for 2024 will remain at the same prices as last season. However, for the first time we are offering free fishing for under-14’s who are accompanied by an adult season ticket holder. Hopefully this will make things more affordable for families and get some more younger people out fishing with their parents. Permits will be available from the usual outlets and by bank transfer through the Secretary later in January. We’ll keep you posted!

new water

Last season the Association added some small stretches of new water under our Crown Estates lease in the upper Eden at Reedileys and Shiels and Barroway. Our hope in doing so is mainly to keep an eye on important spawning grounds rather than encourage fishing. However, this was discussed at the AGM and it was decided to make members more aware of these waters. The maps on the website will be updated before the start of season 2024 to reflect this change. Members can fish these areas but we ask that they consider the sensitivity of this habitat when doing so and also, as ever, report any concerns they have e.g. about water quality and/or the presence of invasives.

improving the river

As outlined in the previous newsletter, the Association has been working to raise awareness of the issues affecting our river. This work will continue with the generous funding from the Crown Estates Environment Grant and - with a bit of luck - further funding from the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) for the River Eden Sustainability Partnership or RESP. We will find out about that in mid-January. EAA is a key partner in this new group which includes Sustainable Cupar, Fife Coast and Countryside Trust and St Andrews University. The group is trying to get all the organisations and individuals who live in the river catchment to work together. If we are successful with the NRF funding, it will be used to carry out full surveys of the habitats in the river corridor - the extent of invasives, places where it would be appropriate to plant trees or improve the bankside or instream habitat. This will then give us the information we need to apply for further funding to carry out the work. This will all take time.

Getting involved & Training Opportunities

We are really keen to get more members involved in supporting both the river maintenance work, habitat improvement and control of invasives. We have some funding to offer training to members and there have been some sign ups already. This includes:

• Chainsaw and chainsaw maintenance training

• Pesticide Application courses

• Health and Safety/ First Aid

Please contact the Secretary if you are interested in taking part/ signing up for one of these courses or just getting involved in future work parties.

Events

12th February - Landowner Event - Letham Village Hall, KY15 7RS

**Note Change of Venue **

The success of the work proposed by RESP depends on listening to and working with landowners and land managers. This event will give them the opportunity to ask any questions about our proposals. We have already confirmed the attendance of

• Willie Rennie MSP,

• Kate Maitland NFUS,

• Rick Haynes, Lead Officer Flooding Shoreline & Harbours, Fife Council

• Toby Metcalfe, Crown Estates and Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board

• David Summers, Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board & Tay Rivers Trust

• Roy Richardson, SEPA

• Ciara O’Shea, Scottish Water

• Iain Moss, Woodland Trust

• Mark Purmann-Charles, Scottish Invasive Species Initiative

We hope that as many landowners and land managers as possible will attend! More details can be found here

Gateside Weir - Impact of Removal

In October, SEPA wrote to the Association to inform us that they had surveyed the river the previous month and had discovered positive numbers of juvenile salmon above the weir as compared with 2021 when there were none. On our request, they produced a report which you can download here, giving more precise data about the survey and its findings.

AGM 2023 - Sunday 3rd December, Pitlessie Hall 7pm

Dear Members,

We look forward to seeing you at the 2023 AGM of the Association on Sunday 3rd December at 7pm in Pitlessie Hall. We hope as many of you as possible will be able to attend.

It has been a while since you have had a newsletter from the Association. Apologies for that. It has been a busy time! At the last AGM we agreed to make the AGM papers available for members prior to the meeting. Our intention was to give you at least a few days to have a look before coming to the meeting. However, we have only managed a day in advance! Click the button below to download a pdf of the AGM papers. As agreed at the time, this is a password protected document. Please contact the Secretary for the password.

As we get better at this, we will work out a way to make this process easier.

In the meantime thank you for your patience and thank you for your continued support of our river.

Midsummer Newsletter

There is a lot to report since the last newsletter in March. 

In this newsletter:

• How’s the Fishing

• How’s the River?

• What are we doing to improve things?

  • Crown Estates Environment Grant

  • RESSSP

  • Ranunculus Transplant

  • Riverfly Invertebrate Monitoring

  • Water Quality Monitoring

  • Raw Sewage in the River Eden

  • Tackling Giant Hogweed

Let’s get to the basics first..!

How's the fishing?

How’s the fishing?

There are some nice reports on the Facebook page of decent brown trout being caught both on small Mepps and on the fly and some sea trout showing lower down the river.  And if you are in the right place at the right time, you’ll see some steady rising fish.  However, the low water and warm conditions are already having an impact even this early in the season.  We could do with some rain but at the time of writing it looks like it’s going to be mainly dry and warm for the next week or more  - apart from the odd shower.

Beautiful brownie!

Committee member Cammy Spears had a good morning this week but gave up early as it was too hot. Still, he managed 8 brownies all in mint condition, all returned.

Please keep putting your reports on the Association Facebook Page to share with the members.

If you still don’t have your permit, remember they are available from outlets across Fife and also from the Secretary if you email your details and transfer funds to the Association account. 

More details here >>

How's the river

How’s the river?

It is always a pleasure to be on the river even when you’re not catching.  You can still enjoy the wildlife, see the flash of a kingfisher or a dipper and hope that the next time you cast alongside some trailing cover, a monster take will straighten your line…

But as already said, water is low and we continue to have concerns about the pressure on the river from a number of sources: diffuse pollution from agriculture, raw sewage, too much silt, lack of river weed (ranunculus) especially in the lower stretches, water abstraction for irrigation of crops, invasive species like Giant Hogweed, Himalayan Balsam and American Signal Crayfish.

Improvements

What are we doing to improve things?

Crown Estates Environment Fund

In March we found out that our bid for £11.3k funding for river restoration and water quality monitoring was successful.  This money is being spent on getting expert advice on how to restore the river and improve the habitat.  This includes

• modifying small boulder weirs which hold back silt and cause erosion when the river is high.

• planting and hinging trees to create shade and cover. This should lower water temperature and where there is wood in the river, create a refuge for fish from predators. It will also stabilise the banks and prevent erosion.

• adding woody deflectors in certain stretches to create more diverse flow which will scour out the silt and create better pool and riffle structure.

• transplanting some of  the vital river weed ranunculus which has disappeared from the river below Cults Mill.  More details below.

• Carrying out water quality monitoring to gather data on nutrient levels and other pollutants that are affecting the habitat.

We are grateful to the Crown Estates Environment Fund committee for recognising the value of our project.

RESSSP

River Eden Source-To-Sea Sustainability Project (RESSSP)

The Association is also working in a new partnership called RESSSP.  Along with several other organisations (Sustainable Cupar, Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, St Andrews University and Fife Councillors) we aim to promote a whole-catchment approach to improving the river.  We have applied for funding from the NatureScot Nature Restoration Fund (NRF). If we are successful, we will be able to appoint a project officer who will manage projects on the river recommended by the steering group.  This will include developing a long-term strategy for the entire catchment to control Giant Hogweed and other invasive non-native species like Himalayan Balsam and Skunk Cabbage.  In the process of writing the application we have been discussing the project with Scottish Water, SEPA and landowners as we need the agreement of all parties to get the work done.  This has led to lots of positive conversations where we are trying to find a win-win situation for everyone involved.

We will continue to seek funds to promote a vision for a biodiverse natural river corridor for community benefit – and that includes improving the habitat for fish!!  We will find out if we have been successful with the NRF at the beginning of July.

Ranunculus Transplant

Ranunculus Transplant

A few months back the Courier reported the Association plans to transplant the vital river weed ranunculus from above Pitlessie to key locations downstream where it disappeared in around 2016 and never recovered.  Ranunculus is amazing stuff.  It is full of insects, provides cover for fish from predators like otters and fish-eating birds and it encourages diverse flows in the river, helping to create gravel beds for spawning salmon and sea trout and feeding lanes for rising fish.

Members digging out a clump of ranunculus to plant further downstream

We are still keen to find out why it has not reseeded but a report from SEPA in 2018 was inconclusive and they promised further tests to try to work out why.  The SEPA cyber-attack together with Covid put a stop on that but we have recently been in touch again and we will find out soon if more ecology and water testing is to be carried out. 

In the meantime, we have been going ahead with a trial of the transplant.  This was attempted in 2020 but it was flushed out by floods and didn’t take.  This time we are using a technique recommended by the Wild Trout Trust. On Friday 9th June, some members dug out some clumps of the weed still rooted in river sediment and then transported them to the new site.  We wrapped the root ball in hessian and buried it more deeply in the riverbed protecting it with rocks.  We will be keeping a close eye on it this time to see if it works.  We will try again a couple of times this summer and if it takes, we can then be confident in transplanting more.

Riverfly

Riverfly Invertebrate Monitoring

Some EAA members have taken part in Riverfly training – a national scheme to monitor key invertebrates on the river.  On Sunday 11th June, a group of volunteers including EAA members, took a kick sample of the bugs in the river and recorded the number of each of 8 key indicator species.  We were delighted to pick up a stoneloach in the sample, carefully returned to the river. We are still learning the methodology but once we are in the swing of it and have more volunteers, we hope to monitor several sites to show how healthy each one is.  The data gets uploaded to a national database where it can be compared with rivers across the country.  We can also use the data to push for further improvements to the river to promote biodiversity.  We are delighted that Pitlessie Primary School are going to be involved too.

If you would like to be involved in this initiative, please contact the Secretary on eaasecretary2022@gmail.com or 07838820659.

Water Quality

Water Quality Monitoring

Thanks to the Crown Estates Environment Grant, we can purchase water quality monitoring equipment. Again, the aim is to gather data about our river that we can use to campaign for improvement.  The purchase of the equipment is under way and we will be looking for volunteers from the membership to get involved in doing monthly measurements at key sites on the river.  Again, if you would like to be involved, please contact the Secretary on eaasecretary2022@gmail.com or 07838820659.

Raw Sewage

Raw Sewage Spills into the Eden

We have all seen the reports nationally about the state of our rivers.  However, it still came as a bit of a shock to see the published figures on ‘Combined Sewage Outfalls’ or CSOs into the River Eden.  This made the local news last month when Councillor James Calder brought it up at a Fife Council meeting.

https://news.stv.tv/east-central/nine-million-litres-of-raw-sewage-spilled-into-fifes-river-eden-in-2022-scottish-water-figures-show

The full data is available to download for anyone on the Scottish Water website.

We contacted our local Scottish Water contact for comment.  Here is a summary of their detailed response:

Question 1

Are you aware of, and can you share, specific timelines for improvements to the monitoring regime for the Eden or plans to reduce discharges from CSOs or SSSOs?

 Answer 1

The majority of what is spilled from a sewer overflow is rain water, with less than 1% being sewage from toilets. They are an essential part of the waste water network as they reduce the risk of water backing up into homes, streets and businesses.

Our aim is to deliver water quality improvements to protect water quality and reduce Sewage Related Debris for 108 sites before 2027.

1000 monitors will be installed across the country over the next 18 months. They will include some locations on the Eden.

Question 2

Is it correct that only two sites (Cupar Haugh Park and Cupar Wastewater Treatment Works) are monitored?

Answer 2

Only two sites on the Eden are monitored as this is required in the license conditions of the sites.

At present in Scotland only a small number of overflows are monitored. Historically this has been because monitoring has been focused on the highest risk assets.

Question 3

Why is the River Eden not higher priority?

Answer 3

In terms of improvements, we are prioritising the CSOs which are unsatisfactory.

Discharges via CSOs can be unsatisfactory due to:

• Operation causing water quality impacts

• Operation during dry weather

• Operation causing aesthetic (sewage related debris) impact

• Failure to meet licence conditions

This page gives information on how we prioritise the installation of monitors on CSOs.

Question 4

To improve transparency in monitoring, should reported outflows not include information on weather conditions and river levels?

Answer 4

We share the desire for better integration with weather data and this is something which is being actively looked at over the coming years to improve transparency.

Our aim is to publish near real-time spill data for all monitored CSOs by December 2024.

At present, we do not map rainfall data against spill data but aim to achieve this in future.

Question 5

Are there any opportunities for Scottish Water to promote local initiatives to retain water within our catchment before it gets to into the sewage system, e.g. promoting household collection of rain water; encouraging natural flood management in the catchment; encouraging the development of more green space/ discouraging hard surfaces etc?

Answer 5

We absolutely share the ambition to reduce the amount of surface water entering the network and at working on this as a business.

However, we cannot do this alone. We are working with several local authorities at present on a number of studies and pilots to identify the most effective ways of stopping surface water from entering the network. There are a number of considerations within this when considering their efficacy, including ensuring that any installations such as rain gardens / water butts are maintained.

We have a policy of surface water removal on new developments.

Giant Hogweed

Giant Hogweed

Members trying to access the river for fishing downstream from Cupar will know that Giant Hogweed around the Scottish Water Sewage Works is a big problem.  For years, members have worked hard to reduce the problem on access paths. Recently we have been working closely with Scottish Water to encourage them to take responsibility for this. As a result of the efforts of a number of people, particularly Councillor Margaret Kennedy, they have now agreed to tackle it.  You should notice that this year the massive stand of Giant Hogweed at the Sludge Beds near the sleeper bridge has been sprayed by Scottish Water. 

Giant Hogweed at the Scottish Water sludge beds

At the time of writing this blog it had its first spray treatment and will be due another shortly so should start to die back soon. They have said they will share pictures when this second spray has been completed. Members photos currently show that the spraying is incomplete, and photos have been forwarded to Scottish Water to make sure they are aware.

We have also contacted them to get exact information on any other land they have on the river in other locations so that we can make sure that they take responsibility for these too.

Giant Hogweed control across the whole catchment will be a big part of our Nature Restoration Fund work if we are successful. For the past 8 years contractors have been brought in by Fife Coast and Countryside Trust to deal with it upstream of Ladybank Bridge. The grant money would allow us to deal with the WHOLE catchment (which is really the only sensible way to solve the problem!). Fingers crossed!

If you are concerned about Giant Hogweed along the river, please let us know as we are trying to build up a map of where it is located so that we can contact the relevant landowner to support them to deal with it: eaasecretary2022@gmail.com