Country Diary: Highlands

An unopposed last-minute amendment to the aquaculture and fisheries bill has been passed through the Scottish parliament, and it means that anglers will be banned from using live fish as bait to catch other fish. The ban is based on the belief, real or perceived, that fish feel pain and that live baiting is therefore cruel. In the past, live baiting in the Highlands has been used to catch larger fish such as ferox brown trout - large trout that have turned cannibalistic - and pike.

The cruelty aspect is not the only issue, as the practice of live baiting may have had effects on the native fish populations. The live bait is often non-native fish such as minnows, perch, loach and even lamprey, and their effect on native fish is unknown but could be very serious. The problem is that any live fish left over at the end of a fishing trip are just dumped in the river or loch. The most widespread live bait has been minnows, and they are now found in all the freshwater catchment areas of the north, including the northern parts of Caithness and Sutherland. Minnows, as well as other non-native introduced fish, can compete with native fish for food and bring in diseases and parasites.

The problems with native fish stocks have been exacerbated by the widespread introduction of non-native pike and the subsequent live baiting to catch them. Signs at some lochs ask anglers to return pike unharmed, so they can be caught again when they are larger. There is a further problem with pike as even quite small specimens can eat young water birds and the larger pike, over 20lb just north of Inverness, can eat adults. There is a correlation between lochs with pike and lochs where no young divers, grebes and other water birds are fledged each year. They will also take mammals, including the endangered water vole.