In 2018 large shoals of spring-spawning herring returned to inshore Wester Ross waters for the first time in 50 years. The Centre for Conservation and Restoration Science (CCRS) at Edinburgh Napier University is running the WOSHH-eDNA-Sound project which is designed to help detect if, when and where large spring-spawning herring shoals are present in inshore waters.
Restoring herring populations and protecting the seabed habitat they depend on for reproduction would likely have significant positive knock-on effects for other species including other fish, seabirds and marine mammals that prey upon herring.
The CCRS was originally awarded £27,906 from the SMEEF privately funded grant round. This was our first fully privately financed round made possible by donations from businesses interested in restoring and enhancing Scotland’s coasts and seas. Contributors are listed here. Further funding of £16,791 was made possible by the Nature Restoration Fund and was used to purchase two Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) and a sound recording package. For more information about how to contribute to SMEEF contact manager@smeef.scot