Major risk that paradise is lost on the Eden

Madam, – I have fished the River Eden in Fife for 60 years.

At first sight, the river water flowing now appears to be less polluted than in the 1960s when I started my lifelong affair with fly fishing.

Then the sugar beet factory was in operation and water flows appeared significantly higher.

Autumn and spring weather meant hard frosts, snow and big cold snow bree floods at the thaw.

They were just the thing to clean out the river so that salmon and sea trout could enter the river system and do what they do naturally.

Now we are told that the river water purity meets all the required standards of the water Framework Directive, but due to a change in climate the rainfall in the Eden catchment is predicted to become much drier.

There is a triple whammy here as drier summers mean insufficient rainfall for salmon to enter the river system.

Secondly it means greater demand for irrigation of crops and, thirdly, there is less water flow in the river to cope with pollution from fertilisers and herbicides, and the regular pollution events which plague the river. Prior to the 1970s irrigation was almost unknown.

More recently, hydroponic production of strawberries in polytunnels means crops no longer rely on natural rainfall, but on water pumped from the river.

The Eden is one of seven catchments in the UK identified as being under severe pressure.

Salmon need cold flood water to run the river to spawn but have not done so in any numbers for the last three years.

More recently the Scottish Government as part of a Scotlandwide initiative have implemented conservation measures for salmon and brown trout which can no longer be stocked by angling clubs as they have been in the past.

These pressures are having a detrimental effect on the biodiversity of the river, membership of community angling clubs and for those who regularly use the river for walking and exercise.

Although the river is still a beautiful place and has the potential to recover, it badly needs politicians and Scottish Government departments to be proactive and work together with community and stakeholders to improve resilience as without intervention the paradise that was once the River Eden may be lost forever.