Located in Scotland, the magnificent River Dee is one of the most famous salmon rivers in the world. But as popular as the 100% “Catch and Release” river is with anglers, it has been notoriously targeted for years by poachers who remove the fish illegally. So now, drones have been brought in to catch the criminals.
The Dee District Salmon Fishery Board & River Dee Trust (DDSFB) has recently started testing drone technology to net salmon poachers. Drones patrol the various bays and inlets of the coastline, giving DDSFB the data they need to ensure all illegally set nets targeting salmon are identified and removed swiftly.
Jamie Urquhart, the fisheries protection manager at DDSFB, explains why the organization decided to test out drones:
There are threats from organized criminal gangs who come and net the river. We have known family gangs who travel around all the rivers in Scotland removing fish with a gillnet. Using the new tech, we can identify locations…
