News.Scotland.Org

October, 16

Speculations were all over yesterday when a massive salmon landed on the banks of the River Ness. It was feared that this catch would smash the historic rod catch record by the young daughter of a Scottish ghillie set way back. The news about this giant salmon catch spread like fire and was soon circulated on the angling website. It was known that this River Ness monster was hooked and was later released on the Highland river.

After the wide spread of this catch speculations were made whether this River Ness monster will break the historic record set in1922. This historic record was named after Georgina Ballantyne, she caught a gargantuan salmon on the Glendelvine stretch of River Tay, the fish weighted 64lb. This amazing catch set a record for the largest salmon ever caught in the British Isles and also the heaviest freshwater fish caught by an angler in the British water.

According to a web-blog which stated the huge salmon was caught and was left unharmed, revealed that the fish measured accurately at 56in long and 50in around the girth. That means the fish was two inches longer than the previous record catch, which pointed out a chance for a new record on the cards. But still there were speculation and rumours all around with no accurate data available pointing out the exact weight and measurement of this monster catch.

According to Grant Sutherland, who has been ghillie on the Dochfour beat for past 20 years, one can not tell what exactly the weight of the fish would be, as the scale on the river bank can only weigh up to 30lb. He further added, I have never seen such a big fish in my life, it measured length was 56in which is really a big catch. In order to get the correct and accurate measurement of the fish pictures of this giant salmon has been sent to the government’s Feshwater Laboratory at Faskally near Pitlochry in Perthshire. It is expected that these experts will be able to figure out the weight and length of this monster.

Now all eyes are glued on the reports which the marine experts will release, that will be the deciding factor whether this River Ness Monster will set a new record in the British Isles. Even the officials of the British Record Fish Committee are eagerly waiting to know the weight of this giant catch before coming to any conclusion.

Scotland, Oct 16: The Edinburgh council’s decision to implement the controversial plan to restrict the number of people allowed to stand in pubs is set to be dropped. The decision in this regard was taken after the raise in opposition from various quarters regarding the feasibility and effectiveness of this process.

The Council leader Jenny Dawe said that the crackdown on so-called “vertical drinking”, which had been backed by fellow Liberal Democratic and licensing leader Marjorie Thomas, as they considered that as an “utterly ridiculous” one. She also opined that there is no need for the cut in pub opening hours.

Deputy council leader Steve Cardownie has already criticised the new draft licensing policy, which promote cutting weekend opening hours and forcing bars to offer seats for at least 50 percent of the customers. The Lothian and Border Police authorities had also refused to back the proposals because of the fears over the impact of all pubs in the city closing at the same time and complications in implementing the rules on “vertical drinking”.

While commenting on this Councillor Dawe said: “Our group was unanimous on these proposals. It is regrettable that we did not have the chance to discuss these proposals before they went out for consultation. The proposals on vertical drinking were utterly ridiculous, and nobody really wants to stop people standing up in pubs. We also felt the existing licensing hours worked pretty well and my understanding is that the police are generally happy with the way they work at the moment. There is no great demand in the city for them to change”.

Even before putting out for consultation the new rules were already given approval by the licensing board, which aims at restricting the anti-social behaviour in licensed premises across the city. The draft licensing policy that all licensing boards are required to draw up under the 2005 Licensing Act, will be brought into discussion by the city’s licensing board later this month and is due to be enforced from November.

Licensing lawyer John Louden said: “There had been huge opposition to the plans.The general feeling is that to keep an open mind on these things and not lay down such strict regulations. Some licence holders have been very concerned about their hours being cut back.”

Patrick Browne, chief executive of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association while expressing his version of thins said: “Edinburgh has a very good reputation because of its liberal licensing laws and anything that harms that reputation is obviously bad news for the trade. These proposals would have been a huge backwards step, inconsistent with what the city is trying to achieve generally, and would convey completely the wrong message to customers.”

Meanwhile the city’s licensing board has the final say on this but the gaining opposition from the licensing trade and within the Lib Dem/SNP-run council gives the apparent implication that the plans are almost certain to be sidelined.