The Maitland Files
A serialised interview with an international char expert.

Q. Could you describe to our readers, why this fascination has remained with you all these years?

A. Although much of my research has involved work in the laboratory and writing, I am at heart a field naturalist and am happiest when out on a loch or river, involved with living things both above and below the water. I have always kept fish of all kinds and never tire of watching them and learning about their behaviour. I am still a fairly fanatical fishkeeper and have a fish house with 18 tanks and about a dozen or so 'wild' ponds scattered around my garden. I have kept and raised Arctic Charr here, as well as many other fascinating freshwater species - including at present the Alaska Blackfish, Dallia pectoralis, which I caught in Alaska in 1996 during the Charr Fanatics meeting there.

Q. Do you consider Arctic Charr an important part of our heritage?

A. Yes. This fascinating fish has probably been with us longer than any of our other species and is not only a link with the past, but must be our hope for the future if we can manage to keep our waters pure and conserve stocks. I have considerable concern about this at the moment, for both Ireland and Scotland have lost populations in recent years and we should be taking active steps now to conserve those which remain and restore this fish to those waters from which it has disappeared.

Q. In Scotland and Ireland fish species diversity is limited compared to many other countries. In your opinion does this fact make the issue of fish conservation more limited or more challenging in both our countries?

A. Biodiversity is one of the buzz words of our time and it is true that, because of ice cover during the last Ice Age, we have a limited number of species. I regard this as a positive thing for our countries, for look at just three of the magnificent fish which we have in abundance - Atlantic Salmon, Brown (and Sea Trout) and Arctic Charr! Many other countries envy this superb resource!

Both aesthetically and economically these are major species and, as one of their few strongholds left in Europe, it is our duty to protect them against many pressures - including the current invasions of cyprinid and other alien species which are being introduced from abroad.