Top chefs to appear at Scotland's Salmon Festival

A CELEBRITY chef and former finalist of Masterchef: The Professionals is among three chefs confirmed to lead cookery demonstrations at Scotland’s Salmon Festival.

Mark Heirs – a regular on STV 2’s Live at Five ­programme - has been head chef at a number of top hotels and worked at Glasgow’s prestigious One Devonshire Gardens and Heston Blumenthal’s three Michelin star Fat Duck in Bray. He now works as a private chef and consultant.

Mr Heirs (right), a finalist on the first series of the popular BBC programme, will join Alfie Little (below), chef proprietor of the River House Restaurant, Inverness and Chris Bond, head chef of The Glen Mhor Hotel, Inverness in the Marine Harvest Theatre Kitchen at the festival’s free family fair in Bught Park on Friday 1^st and Saturday 2^nd September. The fair runs from 11am to 4pm both days.

Members of the public can find out how to cook salmon in a variety of ways, including Mr Little’s famous Roast Scottish Salmon with Spicy Broth. The demonstrations will be compered by well-known food writer and ‘A Wee Pinch of Sugar’ blogger Rachel Gillon. Marine Harvest will also run its popular salmon barbecue, while La Tortilla, Inverness, will be cooking salmon paella.

A food and craft marquee will feature a range of local exhibitors, with artisans showcasing everything from tartan and tweed to hand-knitted accessories, photography, jewellery, silverware, lamps and health and beauty products.

There’s plenty for young ones too, with face painting, a bouncy castle and story-telling with Gordon MacLellan, aka The Creeping Toad, who will be telling tales and making wild hats and finger puppets. To tie in with the theme of the festival, there will be invertebrate trays for children to investigate, electrofishing and casting lessons with coaches from the Scottish Anglers National Association.

Scotland’s Salmon Festival is a biennial event led in partnership by Inverness College UHI, which takes place in the Highland Capital between Tuesday, 29^th August and Saturday, 2^nd September.

It ran for the first time in 2015 and attracted around 3500 people, generating a significant boost for the local economy. It is the first event of its kind which celebrates the Atlantic salmon and its importance to Scotland, economically, culturally and historically.

The festival’s extensive programme will kick off with a film night at Eden Court Theatre on Tuesday 29^th August. There will be salmon canapés and a series of short films about the fish’s influence in Scotland. Highlights include ‘Atlantic Salmon – Lost at Sea,’ a film by Deirdre Brennan, which takes the viewer on an epic journey through the oceanic kingdom of the Atlantic Salmon. The film has been provided courtesy of the Atlantic Salmon Federation and is a unique production exploring the little known world of the iconic species.

Wednesday, August 30^th, sees the official start of the festival with a two-day international conference at Inverness College UHI. The conference is aimed at students, scholars and policy makers and is expected to attract more than 100 delegates, who will hear from industry speakers providing an academic insight into the iconic species. The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Atlantic Salmon Marine Ecology – Knowns and Unknowns’ and it will be opened by Dr Peter Hutchinson, Secretary of The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation. Dr Hutchinson is an internationally recognised expert on Atlantic Salmon conservation and management.

The conference will be followed by an evening of public lectures on Thursday, August 31^st, themed around the natural history of the Atlantic salmon and the history of salmon fisheries in Scotland. On the same day, Inverness Museum and Art Gallery will run tours for visitors on Alexander Grant, Inverness’ famous fishing rod and fiddle maker, who set the first world record speycast on the River Ness in 1895. It stood for 110 years until it was broken by local ghillie and three-time world speycasting champion Scott Mackenzie. The tours run from 2.30pm to 4pm and are a rare opportunity to get behind the scenes and handle items including tools from Grant’s workshop, his fiddles and the famous Grant vibration rod. There will also be a Country Pursuits costume display featuring sporting outfits from the 19^th and 20^th centuries and a Fantastic Fish trail for children, which includes facts and fossils.

Alexander Grant is the inspiration for Inverness Angling Club’s Centenary Speycasting Tournament, which takes place on the banks of the River Ness on Friday 1st and Saturday 2^nd September to coincide with the free family fair in Bught Park. The tournament marks the club’s 100^th anniversary. 30 anglers from Norway, Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and the USA will compete in the competition, which has been organised with the help of Scott Mackenzie. Competitors include Norwegian speycasters Vidar Ness, Geir Hansen and Jarle Strandberg, as well as Inverness Angling Club’s own Aiden MacDonald. Junior and female anglers will also compete with Jordon Grant (15), of Inverness Angling Club, and Donna-Claire Hunter, from Beauly, leading the local charge.

Dr Melanie Smith, chair of Scotland’s Salmon Festival steering group and Head of Research Development at Inverness College UHI, said: “This year’s festival is gearing up to be bigger and better than ever. With great chefs cooking, plenty of wonderful salmon to enjoy, local food and craft exhibitors, exciting activities for the whole family, as well as the speycasting tournament, there really is something for everyone on the Friday and Saturday.  It’s also an opportunity to celebrate, educate and build greater awareness of this iconic species, which not only plays a vital role in our rivers, is a huge contributor to the economy as a food product, international export and visitor attraction.”

Stuart Turner, Head of EventScotland, said: “We are delighted to be supporting Scotland’s Salmon Festival, through our National Programme. Scotland is the perfect stage for events and the festival team have brought together another strong programme, celebrating the Atlantic salmon’s heritage and cultural significance to Scotland. With events ranging from cookery demonstrations to the speycasting tournament, film screenings, children’s activities, public lectures and talks, there really is something for everyone to enjoy.”

Scotland’s Salmon Festival has been organised in partnership with the Ness District Salmon Fishery Board, Inverness Angling Club, Marine Harvest, cbec eco-engineering, and supported by EventScotland - part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate,, Highland Council, Inverness Common Good Fund, Culligran Estate, the Drumossie Hotel, Ness Castle Lodges, SSE, Tomatin Distillery, Graham’s of Inverness and The Scottish Ghillie.

For more information about the festival, visit www.scotlandsalmonfestival.org

ENDS

For more information, please contact Helen Aird, Marketing and PR Officer, Inverness College UHI at Helen.Aird.ic@uhi.ac.uk or telephone 01463 273315/07584616252.

Notes to Editors:

About the River and Lochs Institute: The Inverness College UHI Rivers and Lochs Institute (RLI) was established in 2012 to support freshwater biodiversity management through research, training and education. The RLI specialises in molecular genetic research to aid in the conservation and management of all biodiversity in rivers and lochs, including fish stocks.  Based in the heart of the Highlands and Islands the RLI is uniquely placed to work with local communities, freshwater and fisheries managers, businesses and government agencies to provide scientific support to protect and conserve freshwater biodiversity and manage sustainable wild fisheries. As part of the Research Hub at Inverness College UHI, the Institute connects with other disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, undertaking multidisciplinary research and supporting postgraduate research students in an innovative research environment.

About Scotland’s Salmon Festival: Scotland’s Salmon Festival celebrates the iconic Atlantic salmon as a flagship species, reflecting efforts to conserve and enhance the economic, social, cultural, educational and ecological value of Scotland’s rich freshwater and natural resources. It is the first event of its kind which celebrates the Atlantic salmon and its importance to Scotland, economically, culturally and historically.

Environment – Presence of salmon in the watercourse is recognized as an indicator of a healthy environment and it is a flagship species to promote the wider conservation and enhancement of the Highland’s aquatic resources.

Economy - Farmed salmon is Scotland’s largest food export, accounting for around 40 per cent of its total value. Scotland’s fish farms bring an enormous boost to rural areas with estimated economic benefits of over £700million, (£145m in the Highlands & Islands), with 2200 people directly employed in salmon farm production and a further 1800 related jobs. Scotland is the largest salmon producer in the EU and third largest in the world, while aquaculture is a rapidly growing international industry.

Recreation - Salmon angling makes a significant contribution to the Scottish economy with an estimated spend of £73 million on salmon and sea trout angling in Scotland, with anglers in the Highlands accounting for nearly 50% (£35 million) of this total.

Tourism - Salmon tourism is a growing area with salmon centres and observation points around Scotland.  Inverness is already a popular destination with good infrastructure and the Salmon Festival will be an excellent addition to the 2017 calendar of events. Anglers spend a total of £73 million on salmon and sea trout angling in Scotland, with anglers in the Highlands accounting for nearly 50 per cent of that (£35 million).

Culture - 2017 is Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology in Scotland and we will be celebrating this with special events and displays.

Programme details:

Tuesday, 29^th August. Film Night at Eden Court Theatre (7pm to 10pm).

Confirmed films include:

• ‘Journey’s End’ by Bernard Martin. Filmed in the north east of Scotland, the film shows the salmons’ journey from ocean to river and back to ocean.
• ‘Pearls in Peril’ by SNH. This short film highlights work done by the Pearls in Peril LIFE + Nature project to help secure the future of the critically endangered freshwater pearl mussel across Great Britain.
• ‘Salmon Netting on the Taw and Torridge’ by Butterfly Effect Films.
• An episode from the ‘Turas a’ Bhradain’ series, featuring the Atlantic salmon and angling in Scotland.
• ‘Atlantic Salmon – Lost at Sea’ by Deirdre Brennan. Courtesy of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, ‘Lost at Sea’ takes the viewer on an epic journey through the oceanic kingdom of the Atlantic Salmon.

Tickets are £10 and available from the Eden Court Theatre Box Office.

Wednesday, 30^th August and Thursday, 31^st August. Two-day international conference at Inverness College UHI.

Conference speakers include:

• Andy Moore (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science): The role of the freshwater environment on regulating smolt behaviour and survival in the sea.
• Alastair Stephen (SSE): The in-river component of marine mortality – insights from studies of hydro damned impacted rivers.
• John Carr (Atlantic Salmon Federation): Tracking studies of post-smolts in North America.
• Matt Newton (Atlantic Salmon Federation): Tracking studies of post-smolts in the Coastal Environment.
• David Morris (Marine Scotland Science): Tracking studies of post-smolts on Scotland’s west coast.
• John Armstrong (Marine Scotland Science): Coastal migration of adult Atlantic salmon and offshore renewables.
• Ragnar Joensen (Marine Harvest): Salmon Farming in the Coastal Zone – minimizing interactions.
• Dr Phil McGinnity (University College – Marine Institute, Ireland): Post-smolts migrations: insights from molecular genetic markers.
• Dr Jens Carlsson (University College Dublin): eDNA analysis of pelagic fisheries catches.
• Dr Richard Hedger (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research): Migration of tagged adult Atlantic salmon in the NE Atlantic.
• Prof Ken Wheelan (Atlantic Salmon Trust): Salmon and the marine ecosystem – food chains, climate change. Knowns and Unknowns.
• Dr Jens Christian Holst, Norway: The Atlantic salmon ecosystem.

Tickets cost £80 for both days and include refreshments and a conference dinner. They are available through the Scotland’s Salmon Festival website at www.scotlandsalmonfestival.org

Thursday 31^st August. Public Lectures at Inverness College UHI, 7pm to 9pm.

• Speakers include Professor Eric Verspoor, director of the Inverness College UHI Rivers and Lochs Institute, who will talk about glaciers and the historic origins of today’s Atlantic salmon; Professor Ken Wheelan, research director of the Atlantic Salmon Trust, who will talk about Atlantic salmon at sea; and Dr Ronald Campbell, senior biologist with The Tweed Foundation, who will reflect on the historical patterns of salmon and grilse abundance in Scotland’s rivers.

About Alexander Grant: Inverness man Alexander Grant was known as the ‘Wizard of the Ness.’ He was the master of speycasting and inventor of the Grant Vibration rod. Grant began crafting his famous ‘Grant’s Vibration’ range of greenheart fly fishing rods at his tackle shop in Baron Taylor’s Lane, Inverness. The secret to his success was an understanding of tone and vibration gained from handcrafting his own fiddles. He applied this knowledge to acoustically determine the specific taper of each individual rod. In 1895 Grant, together with a selection of other notable casters from across the Highlands, was invited to participate in a casting competition held from an anchored boat in the Little Isle Pool on the River Ness. Grant’s main competitor roll cast an impressive distance of 56 yards. Grant however stripped the entire fly line from his reel and was officially recorded as casting a staggering 65 yards. It would be fair to say that he blew the competition clean out the water, particularly as this stood as a record cast until broken by Scott Mackenzie in 2005. The aim of the speycasting tournament is to raise awareness of the achievements of Alexander Grant and his contribution to casting and salmon angling by recreating the famous casting competition of 1895.

About Inverness Angling Club: The club was formed by local anglers at a meeting on the evening of August 31, 1917, meaning that the club will celebrate its 100th birthday the night before the start of the Centenary Speycasting Tournament. It has been one of the most innovative angling clubs in Scotland, leading the way in Speycasting skills, the development of salmon flies and - or course - in catching salmon. Its members have included two Speycasting world champions and record breakers, Alexander Grant and Scott Mackenzie, and John Reidpath and John Cathcart, inventors of two iconic salmon flies, the ‘Hairy Mary’ and the ‘Black Shrimp’.

About EventScotland: EventScotland is working to make Scotland the perfect stage for events. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors. For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org. Follow EventScotland on Twitter @EventScotNews.

EventScotland is a team within VisitScotland’s Events Directorate, the national tourism organisation which markets Scotland as a tourism destination across the world, gives support to the tourism industry and brings sustainable tourism growth to Scotland. For more information about VisitScotland see www.visitscotland.org or for consumer information on Scotland as a visitor destination see www.visitscotland.com.