Urr District Salmon Fishery Board

Salmon fishing rights in Scotland are private heritable titles that are registered separately from land. As such these titles can be bought and sold like any other property.

In Scotland, the cost of the local administration, protection and improvement of the fisheries is privately financed by the proprietors. The district boards finance their work by levying a rate on the salmon fishery owners in the district. Elected representatives of those owners provide the core of the membership of the Board. However, since 1986, the boards are required also to include representatives of salmon anglers and salmon netsmen in the district. A further revision to the constitution of the Boards was made in 1999 to allow for even wider representation on the boards by other parties who may have an interest or stake in salmon stocks or fisheries.

Powers and Duties

The powers and duties of a DSFB are summarised below.

Powers

• to act, undertake works and incur expenses for the protection and improvement of the fisheries within their districts, for the increase of salmon and sea trout and the stocking of the district with these fish.
• to impose financial assessments on each salmon fishery in the district, and to charge interest on arrears.
• to borrow funds, and to incur a wide range of expenditure in furtherance of their powers and duties.
• to appoint bailiffs to enforce the salmon fisheries legislation.
• exempt persons from certain provisions of the law for scientific or other purposes.
• to sue in the name of the clerk.

Duties

• to appoint a clerk.
• to maintain a list of proprietors within the DSFBs district.
• to produce an annual report and audited accounts and to consider these at an AGM.
• to call a triennial electoral meeting.

Clerk (contact details)

George Gourlay
GM Thomson & Company
35 Buccleuch Street
Dumfries
DG1 2AB

DSFB Membership

Chairman: R Bellamy
Treasurer: see clerk details above
Upper Proprietors: Angus Ferguson, A J Graham (Tony), W G N Gourlay, D Biggar, Gordon Kerr (representing Chips Keswick)
Angling Associations: K Irvine (CDAA), W Marshall (DAA)
Invitees – Galloway Fisheries Trust and SEPA

Date and location of next meeting: The board meeting due to be held on the 21st of November has been postponed until further notice. 

DSFB Conservation Policy:

Salmon season: 15th March – 30th November (no salmon fishing on a Sunday).

• The Urr has been designated as a Category 2 river under the new Salmon Conservation Regulations for the 2020 season. This means the killing of salmon is permitted (within the conditions outlined below). This categorisation is reviewed annually.
• To follow the River Urr Management Plan to enhance and improve habitats and water quality.

The Urr Rules of the River

All river rules for the Urr can be found in the download section in the document "Rules of the River 2018".

Downloads

Gallery