Congratulations to Craig Burmann-Duke, ghillie at Mertoun Estate near St Boswells, who has been awarded Scotland’s first AQUA (Aquatic Quality) biosecurity award for his work protecting the River Tweed from invasive species.
Tweed Forum nominated Craig for the award following his many years of volunteer work removing giant hogweed as part of our Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) programme. Craig encourages anglers on his beat to make use of a special wash station and drying racks to clean their fishing equipment before entering the water to ensure the removal of fragments of invasive plants and help prevent the spread of fish disease. He uses a special disinfectant supplied to ghillies along the river by the Tweed Foundation and also shares information and literature on DEFRA’s Check, Clean, Dry protocol to encourage good practice.
As well as being the first AQUA accreditation in Scotland, this is the first time that the award has been presented to a wild salmon fishery. We’re delighted that Craig has received this award and hope that other ghillies and water asset managers across the Tweed catchment will also consider taking part in the AQUA scheme and champion biosecurity in their own areas.