The River Annan
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The River Annan Trust & District Salmon Fishery Board
River Annan DSFB
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​The River Annan District Salmon Fishery Board
The regulatory frame work of fisheries started early on the Solway rivers with the Solway Firth Fisheries Act (Scotland) 1804. The reason the Solway rivers obtained this protection first is perhaps due to the value of the fisheries with their relatively close proximity to large population centres were the fish could be sold. There were a number of provisions in this act but in essence it made the fishing for salmon and freshwater fish illegal without written permission. By the mid 1800s transport networks, principally the train, meant that all of Scotland's fisheries were of high value, mainly due to the net fisheries and the ability to send fish, on ice, to large population centres further south. Sport fishing was also becoming more popular so in 1868 the power was given for salmon fishery districts to set up District Salmon Fishery Boards to manage and protect the fisheries (Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act (Scotland) 1868). They did this by extracting a levy based upon the value of the fishing from anyone who owned salmon fishing in their district. The Boards employed a Clerk and several water bailiffs to enforce fishery regulations. This Act was renewed, added to over several years, notably with the 1951 Act. All of these pieces of legislation were finally drawn together under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003. This is the legislation that the Board currently works under.
Ostensibly the Act that the Board works under only covers the management of salmon stocks (plus sea trout which are regarded as a salmon under Scots Law) and does not cover the management of freshwater stocks (coarse fish, trout, grayling ect). It does not however preclude this so the River Annan District Salmon Fishery Board, since 1997, has taken a more holistic approach to fishery management and looks after the river to the best of its ability for all fish.
In order to ensure that regulations are adhered to the Board employs an Clerk and a water bailiff.