Mr. Paul Kavanagh:

The view is that all weirs are a hindrance to the passage of migrating fish; that is their theory. There is serious evidence to dispute that, however, including the statement from the CEO of IFI that only three to four out of every hundred salmon come back in. The real problems are in the estuaries and fish farms and with fishing at sea. To be blaming us and making us pay for the mistakes of others is totally wrong. Mr. Lawton and I have been on the river all our lives and know it backwards. We know the river is at its lowest level since the weir was built by John Anderson before 1800. I rest my case.