Hi, I am Natalie the new fisheries management apprentice. I will be starting next week and am very, very excited about getting to protect and conserve the excellent fish of Scotland.
I will be working around the Inverness area in the Cromarty Firth catchment. I will be working to look after salmon and sea trout in the area. Atlantic salmon are quintessentially Scottish and are extremely important to the Scottish economy, the Tweed alone generates more rod catch from fishing then in the whole of Iceland in 1 year. The distinct genetic populations of wild salmon in Scotland have been around since the last Ice Age and protecting this highly specialised and important gene pool is unique and requires protection especially considering the threat from farmed salmon.
Prior to this, I have been working for the Environment Agency Wales carrying out electrofishing surveys around Wales. This has been a lot of fun, and I have caught some very nice trout and got to see some native crayfish. There will be opportunities to showcase my electrofishing skills in demonstrations to volunteers in the summer time. I am really looking forward to sharing my enthusiasm with others, and getting people excited about fish.
Me electrofishing in Wales, I fell in 5 minutes after this photo was taken!
My work will change seasonally throughout the year according to the lifecycle of the salmon, literally everything I do revolves around them, salmon are my world! I start in November just as the salmon run begins and the fish swim upstream to spawn. How exciting to see one of these magnificent swimmers leap up a weir or a waterfall! We will be trapping the adult spawning salmon to collect eggs and fertilise them for the hatchery. Over the winter I will be looking after the hatchery and as the early spring begins I will be hiking up the mountains of the highlands carrying buckets of salmon eggs to restock the fishery with alevins and fry. What an adventure that will be, I am sure it will be memorable!
Then as summer kicks off I will (having studied for my bailiff exams in the winter and passed to obtain my warrant) begin life as a water bailiff, or as I like to call it the fish police! I will be out on duty in the Cromarty Firth region looking for poaching and illegal fishing with powers to search, arrest and seize. This, I am told, involves a lot of hiding in a bush all night for long stretches, but if we do happen upon illegal activities I will launch myself into action and arrest somebody. This also involves appearing in court, so can be very dramatic when things go on! I am incredibly excited about this side of the apprenticeship, especially as I might get to sit in a canoe and sneak up on poachers!
This is an amazing opportunity to get skills across the whole breadth of fisheries management and it is all thanks to Natural Talent!
There will be more to come from me soon; I cannot wait to get started.
Natalie