Sir,- I find it disgraceful that the shooting of “protected” Scottish wildlife as magnificent as the grey seal, as happened at Lunan Bay last week, is allowed to continue.
Being a beach regular I witnessed first hand the seal when she was washed up.
She would have endured an appalling death.
The remains caused at least one group of visitors with young children visible distress when they innocently approached it on the high-tide line.
What visitors and tourists to the area must find of these practices is anyone’s guess.
Whatever licensing arrangements or other justification the fisheries people would spout in support of this matter does not disguise the fact that Scotland’s wildlife is
paying the ultimate price to protect profits of salmon fishing concerns.
We cannot just keep blaming the seals for this human mismanagement of one of Scotland’s resources.
Being a regular sea angler and walker between Arbroath and Lunan bay I am amazed they actually found a seal to shoot.
You have to look long and hard to find any sign of seal activity in this region. Action against seals must be vigorous.
I have also witnessed bottlenose dolphins at very close range feeding on salmon or sea trout.
Will it take dead dolphins washing up on the foreshore at Arbroath to wake the public interest?
After all it would be just like a farmer protecting his lambs from foxes wouldn’t it?
Congratulations to your paper for highlighting the ongoing efforts to protect wildlife.
James Walker. Elliot Street, Arbroath.
Why be forced to pay for the BBC?
Sir,- Some of your correspondents have been writing to extol the virtues of the BBC and have argued that all major sporting events should remain firmly with the BBC.
One particular writer said that it was free to watch on the BBC. I can only assume it was an older gentleman who has been exempt from paying the licence fee
I have no particular axe to grind against the BBC other than some of their current affairs programming being slanted in one direction or another or matters that affect Scotland are completely omitted, but I do object to paying for something that I might not wish to watch.
I suspect there are many others like me who could live without Auntie Beeb but would still have to pay for it.
Yes, I have heard all the arguments that you are paying a TV licence but let us not kid ourselves. Most of the money goes to the BBC.
The world of entertainment has changed dramatically over the last 10 years and there is competition that gives us a choice of viewing.
It is only right, in my view, that if I choose to pay for Sky I should not be forced to pay for another broadcaster that I do not wish to watch.
I am sure technology could be invented that would allow you to not take any of the BBC programmes and then we could have a completely free and open market in which you pay for what you wish to watch.
Meanwhile, I will continue to watch Sky and still have to pay for the BBC.
Bryan Auchterlonie. Bluebell Cottage, Ardargie.
Open display of sporting drama
Sir,- Despite criticism from Alex Salmond, the BBC’s coverage of The Open in very trying circumstances caused by the capricious weather has to be commended, even though the extra day must have played havoc with their published schedules.
Viewers who pay their licence fee and are not interested in golf are the ones who are entitled to be miffed by the golf coverage and not itinerant politicians.
Golf fans, for an entrance fee of only £10 for Monday’s extra day’s play, were hoping for drama and were not disappointed.
On another difficult day the holy grail of golf (three majors in a row ) by a player in one season was just missed by the fearless but modest young American Jordan Spieth.
The eventual winner, American Zach Johnson, showed his class and tenacity by coming from behind and finishing in some style in the extra holes play off.
The Irish amateur, Paul Dunne, showed that once the weight of media expectation had to be carried, the pressure got to him and his game crumbled, while the other two amateurs, out of the spotlight, did superbly well.
Fortunes fluctuated by the hole, proving that for top sports people, it is all in the mind. To win a major you have to have mental toughness, fortitude and self belief, allied to skills honed from playing week in and week out under the pressure of the professional circuit.
Joseph A Peterson. Kilrymont Road, St Andrews.
Dangers of the environment
Sir,- With reference to your reports on the flooding in Alyth , I completely agree with the excellently balanced comment by farming editor Ewan Pate and J MacKenzie’s letter.
Mr MacKenzie’s statement to the effect that foolish environmentalism is worse than no environmentalism, sums the situation up.
Failure to allow farmers and landowners to drain land and dredge rivers is unforgiveable.
The reintroduction of vicious, huge, predatory birds around Scotland is also breathtaking in its idiocy. As for the tree-eating beaver, these are found in the mountains of North America and Europe and not on the food-producing plains.
We should be doing all we can to help our farmers feed our ever-growing population.
A T Geddie. 68, Carleton Avenue, Glenrothes.
Rubbish also to blame for floods
Sir,- For some years now our waterways have been badly neglected and used as a rubbish dump.
As a canoeist, I come up against this in every sense of the word.
Trees, plastics and even telegraph poles can be seen floating in our rivers and streams.
No one bothers to remove debris.
Landowners allow trees to fall into the water and never remove them.
The River Isla is a good example of this, with a log jam so wide we have to leave the river to get past and launch again further down the bank.
Hopefully this has now cleared.
So never mind blaming the beavers, this has been going on long before the beavers reappeared.
Scottish Natural Heritage will have to change their views and we will have to be more responsible over our waterways to prevent another devastating flood.
Mary Conacher. Beech Cottage, Balgowan Place, New Alyth, Blairgowrie.
Beavers help cut flooding risk
Sir,- Beavers have been accused of contributing to the floods in Alyth, since branches bearing their teethmarks have been seen in the area (July 23).
I would suggest a different explanation.
Beaver dams cause localised flooding but help to reduce the risk of flooding lower down river systems, since the dams moderate water flow.
This is effective in dealing with normal levels of rainfall.
The cause of the Alyth flood was heavy, prolonged rainfall that carried branches and beavers’ lodges.
The conclusion to be drawn from the presence of lodge material is not that the lodges caused the flood, but that beavers were also victims of the flood.
Carolyn Taylor. 16 Gagiebank, Wellbank.
Inefficiency of library closure
Sir,- The residents of Colinsburgh were saddened to hear of the proposed closure of its historic library.
The rationale for the closure is efficiency.
In Colinsburgh this means a brief visit of a bi-weekly bus to replace a library operating for four hours on a Tuesday and two on a Saturday.
It seems fair to say that the replacement service falls far short of improved efficiency for Colinsburgh.
To close the library in Colinsburgh suggests that a library is to be evaluated in purely market terms the same way as any other product say a carbonated drink.
Recent research in the UK shows that falling literacy levels is a cause for concern.
Do we accept as a society that this is just an inevitable market trend or do we invest in libraries to reverse this trend?
To claim that libraries do not promote literacy is like saying that the Forth Road Bridge is a hindrance to communication.
To abandon libraries seems to me to be a flawed policy.
Peter Marshall. 87 Main Street, Colinsburgh.