SIR Ian Botham, the former England cricketer, is spearheading a campaign to prevent beavers being reintroduced to the Scottish countryside amid fears they could devastate wild salmon stocks.
Other celebrity anglers, including Fiona Armstrong, the former newsreader, and Charlie Whelan, one of Gordon Brown's former spin doctors, have joined his campaign. Jeremy Paxman, the BBC Newsnight presenter, is also understood to be against the b
eaver plan.
The anglers, all of whom fish regularly in Scotland, have urged the Scottish Government to abandon the project, which could see hundreds of beavers return to Scotland for the first time in 400 years.
Last week, the River Tweed Commission threatened legal action to block the beavers plan, warning it could wreck a fishing industry worth about £75 million annually. The claim follows new research showing that the animals, which can dam rivers up to 33ft wide, could close off up to 80 per cent of salmon spawning areas around the Tweed and cause devastation on the Tay, Spey, Forth and Dee.
The celebrities fear the move would accelerate the decline in wild salmon, which has seen numbers fall by about 80 per cent since the 1960s.
"I have enormous concern about it, and I suggest that the Scottish Government start to do some thinking about it," said Sir Ian.
"Salmon stocks took a hell of a hammering in the Sixties on a lot of rivers and are only just starting to come back. A lot of work and time and money has gone into developing these rivers and making sure they fulfil their potential and go back to what they were.
"I would have hoped the Scottish Government would have done their homework, but it doesn't sound as if they have. They should have a long, hard think about this. The loss of the salmon industry would be catastrophic for Scotland."
Mr Whelan, who lives near Grantown-on-Spey, said: "Introducing beavers into Scotland is a ludicrous proposition. They will upset the ecological balance – they'll be wanting to bring back bears next."
Ms Armstrong, who lives in Dumfriesshire, urged the government to listen to the experts from the fishery boards.
"It is a bit of a romantic idea, rather like introducing wolves," she said. "The problem is that Scottish rivers are struggling. The Tweed occasionally has a good year but a lot of rivers really don't need any other problems."
Four beaver families are due to be released in Knapdale, Argyll next year as part of a six-year pilot scheme monitored by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). If successful, beavers could be released elsewhere in Scotland.
Bill Balfour, a member of the Esk Salmon Fishery Board, said: "Celebrities get involved in everything. These people are all great anglers but they need to go and get evidence from other countries before coming here and expressing these opinions."
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: "We are aware of the concerns. We have asked SNH to work with fisheries scientists to establish what the risks might be.
Beavers have been successfully reintroduced in many countries – healthy populations of salmon and beaver co-exist in Norwegian rivers."
WHAT NEXT?
FOUR families of beavers are in quarantine waiting to be released in the remote forests of Knapdale, in Mid-Argyll, next spring.
Each family, consisting of one adult male, one adult female and between one to three yearlings or kits, was trapped in Norway's Telemark region before being flown to the UK last month.
Once the beavers are released, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Forestry Commission Scotland will manage the project, with Scottish Natural Heritage monitoring their impact.
If successful, the animals could be released in other parts of Scotland, as well as England and Wales. If unsuccessful, the beavers will be gathered up and returned to Norway.
