The Borders MP, Michael Moore, spent a day with the River Tweed Commission and Tweed Foundation on the River last week.  Mr Moore had asked for the visit to better acquaint himself with the work of an economically important industry in the Borders: fish and fishing.

In the morning, Mr Moore had a tour of the lower and middle Tweed with Director Nick Yonge, visiting The Lees fishery to meet boatman Malcolm Campbell and saw no less than two salmon being caught by one of the beat’s regular anglers, Terry Harper.

From L to R: Michael Moore MP, avid angler Terry Harper & boatman, Malcolm Campbell taking a break at The Lees

It was then on to the famous Junction pool at Kelso where Ronnie Glass, Chairman of the Federation of Border Angling Associations, was on hand to explain more about trout and grayling fishing on Tweed and the importance of the Protection Order.

From L to R: Ronnie Glass with Michael Moore at The Junction

Next Bert Johnston, Vice Chairman of the RTC and Chairman of the Tweed Liaison Committee which reports on the Tweed & Eye Protection Order, met Mr Moore at the Selkirk (Murray) Cauld, which has been the subject of much public concern, and visited the Philiphaugh Salmon Viewing Centre.

From L to R: Bert Johnston with Michael Moore at Philiphaugh

The whirlwind tour took a short break for lunch at the organisations’ Drygrange offices where Mr Moore met a Signal Crayfish face-to-face and Assistant Biologist, James Hunt, explained how the Ettrick fish counter, back at base for repair, worked.

The afternoon was spent touring the upper Tweed with Dr Ronald Campbell, the Foundation’s Biologist. First stop was near Walkerburn where the tour caught up with Trout & Grayling Biologist, Kenny Galt, who was catching grayling for the Tweed Trout & Grayling Initiative’s tagging programme. Kenny had had a very successful morning, catching 11 grayling, including a decent-sized specimen of two and a quarter pounds.  

From L to R: Kenny Galt is helped with the grayling tagging programme by Michael Moore

Michael Moore releases a tagged grayling in Tweed

Dr Campbell then drove Mr Moore higher up the system to see some of the habitat enhancement work which had been undertaken to protect banksides for juvenile fish and spawning areas from livestock degradation.  The tour concluded with a visit to one of the Foundation’s upper Tweed fish traps, situated right at the top of the River.