Applications open until March for Salmon Scotland’s 2026 wild fisheries funding round.
Salmon Scotland has opened applications for a £230,000 fund to support river restoration projects aimed at improving conditions for wild salmon and sea trout.
The wild fisheries fund, part of a five-year £1.5 million commitment from the salmon farming sector, is now in its fifth year and is open to river catchment organisations until 31 March. The scheme prioritises areas where farmed and wild salmon interests overlap.
The funding supports work to repair habitats, protect spawning grounds and improve juvenile survival. Wild salmon and sea trout numbers across the UK have continued to fall, with marine survival now estimated at between one and five per cent.
Since 2021, the fund has distributed around £705,000 to projects including riverbank stabilisation in Argyll, dam repairs in the Western Isles, habitat work in Ayrshire, and monitoring at the Tournaig trap in Wester Ross. Research on the River Carron and live gene bank work in Lochaber and Loch Fyne have also received support.
Fisheries manager Jon Gibb will continue to coordinate the 2026 round. Gibb said the funding allows local groups to carry out “the practical work their rivers need” and gather evidence on how juvenile fish are coping.
Biologist Bob Kindness said support for the River Carron project has helped track the contribution of stocked fish to returning adults.
Salmon Scotland chief executive Tavish Scott said the sector wanted to support practical measures that rebuild river habitats and improve survival for wild fish.
Further details are available at wildfisheriesfund.co.uk.
