Ex-rocker Feargal Sharkey has demanded answers after a key stretch of Scotland’s most famous salmon fishing river deteriorated into “poor ecological condition”.
Data from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency shows a popular 20-mile section of the River Spey in the Highlands to have been in a poor overall state since 2019.
Undertones frontman Sharkey - now an eco warrior calling for healthier rivers - warned Scots authorities they had badly dropped the ball in allowing the iconic waterway to be degraded.
The Spey is one of the most famous salmon fishing rivers in the world and considered among the most productive and important in Europe.
But SEPA classification data shows a length of the river between Loch Insh through Aviemore and up to near Grantown-on-Spey is in “poor ecological condition” - with spoiled banks and declining water levels blamed.
Sharkey, 64, told the Record: "Somebody in Scotland has got an awful big question to answer as to how the hell that ever happened.”
This stretch of the river, running to nearly 20 miles, first fell into the ‘poor’ category in 2019 - partly due to damage to the riverbeds, banks and shores from farming activities.
Water levels and flow have also been hit as large volumes are drained by hydroelectric generators to power an aluminium smelter in Fort William.
Significant amounts of water are also taken to supply Speyside whisky distilleries, as drinking water supplies and also for agriculture.
SEPA stressed water quality in this stretch of the Spey remained high.
Overall, around 60 per cent of the huge 107-mile river - which slices north-east from the Cairngorms up to the Moray Firth - is classed as in good or better condition.
Teenage Kicks singer Sharkey, who is also a keen angler, said: "The River Spey should be - and it is - one of the finest, most pristine rivers in Western Europe.
"It is one of the last remaining salmon rivers in the whole of western Europe, certainly one of the most important ones.
"But if you check SEPA's database, you'll discover between Loch Insh and Grantown, the River Spey is actually now listed as being in poor ecological condition.
"There are only five grades - 'poor' is the second lowest.
"And to me, to suggest a river like the River Spey, through one of the most popular bits of that river, is in poor ecological condition... somebody in Scotland has got an awful big question to answer as to how the hell that ever happened, and why it was ever allowed to get into that condition."
A spokeswoman for SEPA said: ”Most of Scotland’s water environment is already in a good condition and subject to fewer pressures than most other European waters.
“However, there are significant environmental problems caused by a number of pressures, including diffuse and point source pollution, alterations to beds, banks and shores, alterations to water levels and flows and the presence of invasive non-native species.”
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