During 2010 the SCAPA Flow Skate Tag and Release Fishing Project will be launched and will be funded by the SCAPA Flow Landscape Partnership (SFLP) for 2 years.

The aim is to successfully and safely capture, tag and release back in to the wild as many individual Skate (Dipturus spp.) as possible.

The project will fund skate fishing expert, Davey Benson to visit Orkney during a scheduled weekend every year for the projects 2 years and share his knowledge and experience with local anglers involved in the project on the best methods of achieving the project aim without causing harm to the fish or project participants.

The project will allow  anglers over 2 days to fish alongside Davry Benson during a weekend in the spring and late summer of  2010 and the summer of 2011.  The weekends will form the practical side of a short training programme where local sea anglers will learn the correct method of Skate fishing, including using the correct equipment and tackle, the best baits, the correct way to deal with a captured skate and the correct way to tag, release and record all the important scientific information.

For for information on the project go to:

www.orkneyskatetrust.org.uk