The man who saved a river

From collapse to recovery

When salmon catches on the River Carron dropped to single figures in the 1990s, the west Highland fishery looked doomed. Today, it averages 246 fish per season – and the man behind that recovery has just won a national conservation award.

Bob Kindness has been recognised with the Conservation Award at Scottish Land & Estates’ Helping It Happen Awards for his 30-year effort to save the Carron’s salmon and sea-trout populations.

The river’s collapse was traced to severe winter spates destroying gravel spawning beds. Mr Kindness’s solution was to build a hatchery at Attadale Estate and establish a captive broodstock facility, raising fish entirely in freshwater to release up to 150,000 fry annually.

Science-led approach to tracking fish populations

Working seven days a week since 2001, Mr Kindness has meticulously tracked every generation through DNA analysis and monitoring. The results demonstrate success: in some years, over half the catch comprised fish from his stocking programme.

His work has contributed to research at UHI Inverness, establishing best-practice guidelines for conservation stocking that could help reverse salmon declines across Scotland. The Carron stands as proof that dedicated, science-based intervention can turn the tide.

Recognition and parliamentary praise

Mr Kindness’s success has prompted an Early Day Motion in Parliament, tabled by Angus MacDonald MP on 20 October, congratulating him on “transforming fish populations” and “revitalising the river’s salmon and sea-trout numbers”.