Monday 1st December: The quarterly meeting of the RTC in the morning at Kelso. Main decision from our point of view was the formal adoption of the Management Plan. As this actually expires this year, and a new edition is needed for 2009-2014 there is little break in the work. Back to the office after collecting scale samples from Boleside and checked through the draft Eel Management Plan for the SolwayTweed River Basin District before sending my comments off. An hour with Kenny going through his TTGI folders for the angling clubs afterwards. James still ploughing through the scales data, getting anomalies sorted out.

Tuesday 2nd December: Most of the day on SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) - these are written descriptions of the best way of doing all the things that we do (electric-fishing, netting, traps etc) including Health and Safety requirements so that we do things as well and as safely as possible. James working through fish counter video to identify Salmon and Trout, Kenny working on the TTGI folders. Too cold for fish to run upstream for trapping, so checks reduced to every two days.

Wednesday 3rd December: Took the vehicle in to Tweedbank for a service, testing out the satellite tracking system that we might be using to keep track of staff in the field. Started a paper on management options for the Salmon of the Whiteadder as some funding has become available for that. The Whiteadder has an interesting story as a fairly well documented  tributary that lost its salmon towards the end of the 19th century and then regained them by natural recolonisation (see attachment) at the end of the 20th. It is now one of the Salmon powerhouses of the Tweed catchment and a great oddity in that this new population is dominated by Spring Salmon. There can be very few, if any, other new populations of salmon that are Spring fish. Why this should be so, I do not know. Go through more TTGI reports with Kenny at the end of the day.

Thursday 4th December: Meeting on management techniques at Faskally as part the Fisheries Forum process cancelled due to the weather. Spend the day revising the SOPs in the light of comments from Kenny and James. Also finish the first draft of the Whiteadder options paper.

Friday 5th December: Finish the SOPS. Monthly joint staff meeting of the RTC & TF in the morning. In the afternoon more data entry and more checking through what Kenny has written up for some more of the  TTGI angling club folders. James has started checking through last month's images from the fish counters to distinguish between salmon and trout. Preparations finalised for the collection of genetics samples from December running fish - this is being done under licence from the Department and with the permission of the relevent proprietors. The boatmen of the beats will be doing the fishing, with a full-time bailiff presence and James or myself in attendence to take the actual tissue samples. It will, of course, be "Catch & Release" but what will be caught in December running up the Tweed ? There could/should  be a mix of early Springers,  large December "Graybacks" and some small January / February-spawning "Blue Salmon". Watch this space ! (Weather & water levels permitting).