Monday 23rd March : More Euro budgetting in the morning, then, thankfully, out with Kenny to get the smolt traps into operation

Tuesday 24th March: Various bits of organising in the morning, then Euro budgets the rest of the day - had to go back and re-do it all as had omitted to deduct the VAT from the travel costs - irrecoverable VAT has to be budgetted for separately. A nightmare to begin with, then got the hang of what had to be done to the spreadsheets and picked up speed. It all seems to be done now. It all comes out at 354,448 Euros for work on the Sea-trout of the Tweed and the North Sea - if it goes through.

Wednesday 25th March: The whole team, myself, James and Kenny, down to Durham University for a meeting of the North-east Region of the Freshwater Biological Association. A fiendish time finding the right place, Durham is not an easy city to navigate through and the University doesn't seem to like the idea of signs that point out where it is. A good range of talks, including one from a world expert algologist suggesting that the outbreaks of "Rock Snot", a brown, filamentous diatom algae, currently causing all sorts of concerns in New Zealand is actually a world-wide native, not an alien invader, and is "spreading" because water conditions are becoming more suitable for it as climate and land uses change.

Thursday 26th March: Kenny is on traps this week, but as he's at TweedStart, teaching kids today, I do the traps instead. Only one fish, at Tinnis. A small spate at Tweedsmuir. Back to the office and spend the rest of the day (and evening, till 22.30) putting the Euro budget for North Sea Sea trout into a format that can be used for the Foundation's own budgetting. Not easy.

Friday 27th March: An early start in the office and by 09.00 had the Euro budget as a Tweed Foundation budget.  Samples, photos and scales brought in from a Tide-liced, 13lb, Springer caught yesterday with gills full of maggots. Although Gill Maggots are a freshwater species, they can survive in salt water and a kelt that returns to the sea will keep the Gill Maggots it has till it returns to freshwater again. Very fresh fish, like this one, can therefore have gills full of maggots and this is, in fact, one indicator of a repeat spawner. The scale reading confirmed that this fish was indeed, a repeat spawner. The weekly staff meeting had mucht to cover and took the rest of the morning. Spent the afternoon trying to catch up on all the things delayed while budgetting.