GET INVOLVED
If you would like to be involved in the SSDA's work in this area, we invite you to:
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Complete this short survey by 9am on the 16th July 2025
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Click the link below to sign up to a digital meeting taking place at 1pm on the 17th July 2025.
Fishing information on Scotland Starts Here
Fishing is a key part of the South of Scotland’s visitor offering: our game, sea and course offering is world-class and has the potential to attract many more visitors to the destination. However, at present it is not easy to find information about where to fish and how to secure permits. Many visitor economy businesses know fishing is a strength for the destination but do not know where to signpost visitors to. Many of region’s fisheries principally rely on word of mouth and so get very few visitors to the area.
Objective
In 2025/26 the SSDA will create a one-stop-shop fishing information hub for visitors on the existing Scotland Starts Here website and app: this will be the most complete and user-friendly single online source of information about all forms of fishing in the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. In this way, we want to make it easier to inspire more people to visit the South of Scotland, especially higher-spending, longer-staying visitors. This in turn supports our local businesses, creates jobs and sustains economic prosperity. We will look to do this in responsible and sensitive ways, working with key organisations (commercial, community and conservation) to provide appropriate information: for example, on bio-security (net cleaning etc to guard against invasive non-native species), promoting local guides, and ensuring beginners and family groups are appropriately signposted.
Approach
As with everything the SSDA does, we will look to achieve this objective through partnership and collaboration, in sensitive and appropriate ways. The SSDA is not looking to compete with any existing business but rather to create a central webspace that supports and signposts to existing businesses/organisations, such as FishPal, for booking. We also recognise that it will not be possible to constantly be updating information on Scotland Starts Here, which is why once the listings are created we will give ownership to the relevant organisations, with their own login-ins, to update as appropriate. We will avoid having very detailed information which is likely to change annually on the site but rather link to the relevant source of information, in this way we will have a resource that is as future-proofed as possible. We also recognise that there are some sensitive areas which might not wish to be included, so any organisation is able to opt-out and remove themselves at any time.
Activities
The SSDA will achieve this objective by:
- Hosting an initial digital meeting and inviting all interested stakeholders to attend, to discuss the plan and seek all input/involvement. We wish to be entirely open, transparent and inclusive. - Book here for the meeting. 3rd July 2025, 12h00
- Creating a major new section to the Scotland Starts Here website and app, becoming the leading source of information about where to fish in the South of Scotland.
- Uploading information about fisheries, river beats, fishing shops, guides and other angling-relevant content, to these Scotland Starts Here webpages, using already publicly available information; offering businesses a 12-month free Core Membership of the SSDA (so listings include photos etc). At the end of 12-months, organisations can choose whether to continue as a Core Member for £85 a year or downgrade to free membership (no photos etc), and organisations can completely remove their listing at any time.
- Reaching out to all relevant organisations (fisheries, shops, guides, etc) inviting them to check all information and add to the directory and hosting a digital meeting for all who wish to join, to discuss how best to develop the website for maximum impact.
- Build the SEO of the new pages, such that it is the top Google hit for “fishing Scottish Borders/Dumfries and Galloway/South of Scotland”
- Support and encourage South of Scotland visitor economy businesses to promote the Scotland Starts Here fishing information pages, offering digital content and physical marketing collateral.
- Develop mutual-promotion partnerships with fishing shops in which they are promoted on Scotland Starts Here and, in return, they promote the website in their shops by displaying posters etc.
- Develop specific partnerships with key regulatory and conservation organisations like the River Tweed Commission, to share information about responsible fishing (bio-security etc).
- Work with the media and key influencers to develop content to inspire people to visit the South of Scotland for the fishing.
- Develop a small quantity of strategically located posters promoting the Scotland Starts Here fishing information.
Timescales
- July 2025: Plan established and communicated to stakeholders, partners and SSDA members
- 17th July, 13.00: Digital meeting to wish all are invited, discussing the project. BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE
- July- August 2025: Webpages created, made live and shared with all stakeholders for their input.
- September 2025: Project completed, with ownership and logins given to relevant organisations.
- June 2026: One-year review point
Project Lead: David Hope-Jones OBE, CEO, SSDA, davidhj@ssdalliance.com
