Episode 12 Landward

We've been away for three long months, but now Landward is back

to brighten your Friday nights all the way through till Christmas.

Hello and a very warm welcome to a brand-new series of Landward.

I'm in the northern edge of the Cairngorm National Park,

where later in the programme I'm going to be given unique access

to the nest site of the rare and very beautiful hen harrier,

but first, here's what else is coming up on the programme.

We test the mood of farmers three months after the Brexit vote.

It's going to be very, very difficult and I really don't think

that Westminster know what they've got themselves in for.

We meet one of Scotland's newest species.

So these newts right here in our hands are genetically unique?

They are, yes.

And Nick and I set off on a food van odyssey

to some of the west's most scenic locations.

Today, our culinary location is sun-kissed Oban.

A bit breezy, though, Nick. It is indeed.

But first, we need something to cook.

We all know that the pristine waters of the west coast of Scotland

are home to some of the greatest shellfish in the world,

lobster, crab and langoustine.

Chefs across Europe pay a small fortune

to get hold of the fruits of our seas.

But there is one species of shellfish that doesn't get

the credit it deserves.

It's called squat lobster,

renowned as the tastiest of all shellfish, yet paradoxically,

there's no commercial fishery and for people like me who love it,

it's pretty difficult to get hold of.

But why?

I've come to Loch Fyne to meet a man

who should have the answer to my question.

Alistair, how are you doing? Morning, Dougie, good to see you.

Good to see you too. Can I come on? Welcome aboard. Thank you very much.

Alistair Sinclair is the chairman

of the Scottish Creel Fishermen's Federation.

He fishes for langoustine out of Furness,

on the upper stretches of Loch Fyne.

We're heading out to see if we can catch some squat lobsters,

but first, what exactly is a squat lobster?

This is a langoustine, part of the prawn family.

This here is a squat lobster,

but not part of the lobster family.

It's more closely related to crab,

but the meat on the back here at the tail

is some of the sweetest you'll ever taste.

Delicious.

So they're not really lobster after all.

All the same, Alistair thinks we should be making more of them.

When you go to a restaurant,

you don't often see them on the menu - why is that?

Basically, because they've never been properly marketed.

We don't have fishmongers displaying their goods as we used to have

on the high street nowadays, which is an awful shame.

And the fact that they're such a footery food to eat -

the tail is so small

and whenever you look at the size of the beast

compared to what you get in return for eating,

it maybe doesn't seem economical, but if you buy tails,

it's far tastier than a langoustine.

Put it into a big bowl, sit it on the table like a bowl of mussels,

and it becomes a finger food and everybody's...

enthusing about it whilst they have their slurp of wine.

That's the kind of food it could become. Are they tough to catch?

No, you generally catch them whenever you don't want them.

The squat lobster live on patches of rocky ground on the seabed

amongst the more muddy langoustine fishing grounds.

They end up as by-catch in Alistair's creels.

So a few more squat lobsters in this haul? Yeah.

Squatty Central, as some would say. Squatty Central?

Why do you think there is not really

a commercial operation for squatties, then?

Many people...

I think with eating,

people look at the animal and don't think of the meat.

They go, "Oh, my God, that looks terrible, doesn't it?"

If you look at the armour on these things,

it's absolutely awesome, you know? Uh-huh.

I've known fishermen to be poisoned with this needle. Right.

It turns septic very quick. I won't be picking them up, then.

How much demand is there from restaurants and chefs

from your point of view for squat lobsters?

The demand is now picking up to the extent that it might be

a viable fishery. Really?

Yep, and if it becomes a viable fishery for the creel fishermen,

that can only be good.

Well, I can't guarantee that squat lobsters will become

a regular part of our diet,

but I do know a chef who's going to be very happy when I deliver

this bucket of beauties to him later in the programme.

Join Nick and I on our summer food tour of the west coast.

Now, from the fruits of the sea to the labours of the land.

It's the tail end of this year's harvest,

but the big news for farmers this summer

has been the decision to leave the European Union.

We sent Sarah to the fields of Scotland to gauge the mood

three months after the Brexit vote.

The result left many Scottish farmers stunned.

Last year, the EU delivered three quarters of Scottish farming income.

Now, subsidies could potentially disappear.

Well, as this year's harvest comes to an end,

I want to find out what some farmers are feeling.

Andrew Moir, who farms at Arbuthnott in Aberdeenshire,

was one of many farming leaders to voice concerns about leaving Europe.

Today, he's busy harvesting some wheat on prime arable land.

That is a glorious view, isn't it?

Straight down there, all ready for you.

All ready to take down with the big scythe, yeah.

Overall, how has the harvest been this year?

Since the Brexit announcement,

prices actually went up, but in the last week, ten days,

they've gone right back to where they were.

Of course, we haven't seen Brexit yet.

It was just the thought of Brexit.

It's interesting to hear what you say, because three months on

from the Brexit vote, and you did vote against leaving...

I did. ..you sort of warned of the consequences,

so on reflection, how do you feel now?

Well, we are where we are.

Farmers are pragmatic people.

That is the decision of the people, so I'm happy to try what I can

to make the best of a bad job.

But the fallout's still to come, in my opinion.

Do you feel reassured by the government's statements

of continued financial support?

It's very nice in the short term and we thank them for that,

but we need to know what actually is going to happen for the future.

We need to be going back to basics,

back to realising that we are producing food

and we need to produce good-quality good and that comes at a price.

At the moment, the marketplace doesn't give us that price,

so we do need a little help.

And that "little help" is one of the biggest concerns.

Andrew's farm is on prime agricultural land,

but 85% of Scotland's farmland falls into an EU category

known as a "less-favoured area".

It's considered to be marginal ground where it would be impossible

to make a living without subsidy.

Angus.

Hi, Sarah. Good morning, how are you doing?

Not too bad. So it's a no-go today?

It is.

I don't usually combine in my oil skins,

so it's definitely a no-go today.

It's been a wet night and a wet day today.

Angus McCall farms further north here in Sutherland.

The weather's not on his side today, but that's not his only worry.

You've recently bought your farm out of a tenancy. Yep.

A massive investment and how are you feeling

about the future at the moment? Nervous.

I think the uncertainties of the markets and Brexit

and all the rest of it, it's quite nerve-racking.

What was your initial reaction, post-Brexit?

Um, absolute surprise and horror.

I think I never expected that would happen.

And three months on, how do you feel?

We have to manage it. It's not going to be very easy.

If we lose the single market, I think it could be very disastrous.

And what do you think about the new statement

from the Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,

Andrea Leadsom, when she said perhaps people

with big fields will keep the sheep

and those with the hills, like yourself, will have the butterflies?

Well, I've a degree of scepticism about the competency

of the ministers in charge of Brexit.

I don't know that they really understand

what they've got themselves into

and I certainly don't think that the Defra Secretary has...

I don't know if she's been to Scotland,

but I don't think she appreciates just what it's like

to farm up in the hills and glens.

So in spite of pledges from both the Scottish and UK governments

of continued financial support for farmers,

I'm sensing a lot of scepticism from the grain growers.

But what about livestock farmers in upland areas?

40% of Scottish lamb and mutton currently goes to Europe,

a big slice of the shepherd's pie.

This is probably the better end of our farm here.

We're 800 feet here and we go to 2,500 feet.

Shall we go and have a wee look at the sheep? Yep, no problem.

Martin Kennedy farms here on the outskirts of Aberfeldy.

He's also chairman of - quite a mouthful -

the National Farmers' Union Scotland,

Less Favoured Areas Committee.

So, Martin, after the shock of the result,

there's been a sort of summer of silence.

Yes, I think it's a case of really sort of taking stock

and trying to find a direction,

but finding a direction is going to be extremely difficult,

but, again, we've got to be positive, we've got a great product,

Scottish products, whether it be cereals, beef, lamb,

everything in the supermarket shelf.

Whether it's crop standards or meat standards,

it's arguably the best standards in the world

for consumers to be guaranteed of that food security.

What could you say to allay the fears of farmers who are worried

that their income is going to all but disappear?

Well, it's very difficult to allay the fears,

because we don't know, there is so many uncertainties there,

but all I can say is we need to keep this positive story

for Scottish agriculture

with both governments, the Scottish government and the UK government,

to let them understand that the whole of the rural economy,

the whole of the country, is based on agriculture. We get...

We're talking about the environment all the time and we seem to be

talking about the environment more and more.

When you just look round here, the only reason that environment's here

is because of the way it's been farmed over generations.

It seems like most Scottish farmers have concerns

about the future of farming after we leave the EU.

They're pinning their hopes on the quality of the food they produce

and reckoning they still have an important role to play

in feeding the nation and managing the countryside.

But farming is just one aspect of our complex rural life

and this summer, Scotland's moorlands became a battleground,

as Dougie's been finding out.

Longstanding tensions between landowners and conservationists

flared up again when tagged adult birds of prey went missing.

The disappearances led to a clash between estates

and conservationists.

But for some birds of prey,

the battle for survival begins much earlier in life.

Very few hen harrier chicks make it to maturity.

Now, a unique project is hoping to find out why

and it's actually bringing land managers

and conservationists together.

And here we are. Yes, indeed.

So, yes, the young have already fledged. Uh-huh.

The nest is completely abandoned.

Hen harriers always build their nests on the ground.

This project involves placing hidden cameras at harrier nest sites

to find out what threats the nestlings face.

Brian Etheridge has worked for RSPB for 30 years.

Why do you think numbers are so low?

Unfortunately, I find in most cases

the form of land management is the problem.

Uh-huh. Which is mainly driven grouse moors.

So they can breed in a location like this,

where there's no grouse management at all,

they can breed safely and produce decent broods,

but if they try and nest on adjacent grouse moors,

then for some reason the nest fails

and the nest is often abandoned

and we just don't know what's happening,

but this relationship between their nests failing

and the form of land management is quite striking.

But many landowners say they do try to provide

a safe haven for wildlife.

..try and keep it small and by doing that,

it means you've got a firebreak...

Tim Baynes is a spokesman for Scottish Land Estates,

the body that represents much of the country's grouse shooting moorland.

How frustrating is it for you that you always seems to be painted

as the bad guys?

I know, it is really, really frustrating

and I think that moorland owners get quite angry,

because they are out there every day,

they're the ones taking responsibility for balancing

all the different things they have to do in managing a bit of moorland

and they're producing... One estate has got 81 different bird species,

including birds of prey.

And landowners have been increasingly enthusiastic

about this hen harrier project.

Last year, we had five estates, so it was a bit of a slow start,

but we now have 13 estates who have done it this year,

because they can see the sense in it

and they want to have hen harriers

and they want to demonstrate that they're doing that

and they want to find out why the nests fail.

And we might be about to get some answers.

It's the end of the breeding season

and the nest cameras are coming down.

Hi, Dougie, how are you doing? Very well. Good to see you.

Do you want to come down to my office? Let's do that.

'The camera images end up here with Andy Turner.'

This is handy, having your office at the bottom of the garden, isn't it?

Yes. Fantastic.

Andy is the project manager for Scottish Natural Heritage.

He's showing me pictures from two sites.

Initially, there are five chicks on the nest.

The female is protecting the young birds,

trying to shelter them. The chicks are just underneath her here.

The camera records the temperature and it's particularly cold

at this stage, on the 16th of June.

The female's looking really bedraggled,

trying to shelter the chicks from the wet and the wind.

As we move further on,

you'll see the temperature really goes up.

I'm not quite sure how accurate it is,

but it certainly shows that it's in the mid-30s

and that temperature variation, fluctuation in temperature,

it really has a big impact on the chicks.

Over the course of this period,

we find that only one of the original five birds survives,

purely due to exposure to extreme temperature ranges.

At another site down in the south of Scotland,

you can see the chicks are on the nest,

they're just relaxing there and over the next couple of shots...

A fox!

Yep. My goodness, look at that. Look at the reaction of the chicks.

A really, really aggressive, feisty reaction.

In comes the fox to try and take its lunch,

but you can see it's driven off very aggressively by the remaining birds.

Unfortunately, we learn later on that in this case,

the chick was nipped by the fox and it was found dead outwith the nest.

As you can see from this example,

the fox attack has resulted in the loss of a harrier

and from that point of view,

the involvement of land managers in carrying out fox control

is critical for the survival of hen harriers in some areas,

so we need to work with land managers more and more

across the whole of Scotland to try

and increase the hen harrier population.

It's only through projects like this

and by getting everyone on board that we can do that.

So the partnership between landowners and conservation agencies

has revealed some of the many challenges facing birds of prey,

but this collaboration might also hold the key to their future.

And now from the uplands to the coast.

Over the summer, we asked you to tell us on our Facebook page

your favourite beach in Scotland.

Today, we're at one nominated by Neil Strachan from Aberdeen

and John Simon from Dunblane.

We're just south of Montrose. We're at Lunan Bay.

The bay is framed by cliffs in the north and cliffs in the south

and has a half-moon shape, hence, some say, the name Lunan,

after "la luna", the moon.

Standing majestic over the beach is Red Castle,

built back in the 12th century for King William the Lion of Scotland

to protect this place from Viking invaders.

The beach is a great place to find buried treasure,

agates and gemstones,

and the best time to find them is just after a storm.

Be careful where you look, though -

you could have wet feet,

like I have. Ooh-ya!

After a bracing walk on the beach, a wee cup of tea and a scone

is a fine thing and the Lunan Bay Diner provides both

and both are glorious.

Splodge.

We want you to keep telling us which beach

you think is the best in Scotland.

You can do so on the Landward Facebook page, or e-mail...

..and we may feature your suggestions on the programme.

Now, we often hear about species in decline

and loss of biodiversity,

so it's great when wildlife appears in unexpected places.

Sarah's been to the Black Isle,

where a totally new species has been found.

Back in 2007, here in the Black Isle, an 11-year-old boy was out

for a nature walk when something caught his eye.

He looked at it, it looked at him.

A chance encounter, but a significant find

which led to a scientific breakthrough.

The boy had found a great crested newt.

It's a threatened species across Europe

and for ecologist David O'Brien,

finding one in this pond was particularly exciting.

Up to that point, we thought great crested newts

were probably introduced to the Highlands.

There were only a few sites, they were all next to houses or schools.

But finding one right out here - in beautiful countryside,

but it is kind of the middle of nowhere -

made us start thinking maybe they're native after all.

So it was a fairly significant find?

That's an understatement.

It led to a complete rethinking of great crested newt distribution

in Scotland, in Britain. How easy are they to spot?

Not easy at all.

I can come to a pond like this

and not find them in a whole evening's study,

but I was out last night and I do have two that I have taken out.

Great! Can we have a look? Of course.

We've got a male and a female.

You've got the male there. I've got the male.

How can you tell, sorry?

If you look along his back, you can see the faint trace of a crest,

but you also see a white-silver streak

along the side of his tail. Right.

And if I take him and turn him over,

which he's not going to like, particularly,

you can see this black bulge. Wow, yep.

So that tells you it's a male.

And this colouring on the bottom, this vibrant orange.

That's a warning colour.

That's a warning colour to predators that might want to eat him.

He's harmless to you or I, but if you took a bite out of him,

it probably wouldn't do you any good.

OK, so who have you got there? I've got a female,

which again has that stippling.

Doesn't have the white stripe on the tail and, again,

if you look underneath her, whereas your male, the vent there was black,

here it's the same orange as the rest of the underside.

Also, it's got this lovely orange stripe down the base of the tail.

Now, we're handling them, of course, but you need a licence to do that.

The reason we have a licence

is because this is part of a study project looking at these animals.

Is this an ideal newt habitat?

It is. That was quite surprising,

because it's very different

from what would be considered ideal newt habitat

elsewhere in the range, in the south of Scotland or in England.

They're much more of a deciduous woodland species,

whereas here, as you can see, it's birch, it's pine,

and the sphagnum, which we're sinking into.

Yep, it's very spongy.

So it's an unusual habitat and this is one of the first things

that made us think maybe our newts are different.

So these newts right here in our hands are genetically unique.

They are, yes.

So this is an incredibly rare Black Isle great crested newt.

Say hello to Landward viewers.

Right. Time to let him go.

OK, so just tell me what to do. Yep.

Just get down nice and low in case he drops off

and gently lower him into the water.

Mm-hm. And he should just swim off.

There he goes! Free at last.

Ah, back to where he belongs.

Now, earlier in the programme, I was on Loch Fyne,

catching squat lobster.

Now, I'm taking them to meet up with our resident chef Nick Nairn.

We're starting a culinary tour of the west coast

in our all-new Landward food van.

And season them with salt and pepper.

Over the course of this series, we'll be in Bridge of Orchy,

Ganavan and Luss.

But today, we're starting off in a stunning fishing port.

Today, our culinary location is sun-kissed Oban.

A bit breezy, though, Nick.

It is indeed and in fact we've had to fashion some windscreens

to get the heat into our little stoves

so we can cook squat lobsters.

Squatties are amazing - when I started cooking, these were free.

The fishermen used to either just chuck them back

or use them for bait, but now we know they have

this delicious little nugget of meat in the tail,

possibly, some people say, nicer than langoustines.

So the tails are the thing. I've got the tails here,

so we're just going to blanche them in boiling, salted water

for 20 seconds. You don't want to overcook them, really important.

Are they a bit like prawns in that they'll go really rubbery

if you overcook them? Same kind of idea? Absolutely.

You'll lose the succulence. That's it, that's all you need. Done?

Just in and back out again

and put them on a tray, rather than a bowl,

because it lets them cool down much faster.

So what I'm going to suggest is I'll show you how to...

Oh, that's a wee langoustine.

NICK CHUCKLES

What I'll show you how to do is how to shell them,

so thumbs in here, on either side,

peel them apart. Oops. Peel this bit away.

Hold on to that

and then just give it a wee wriggle

and it comes out like so.

OK? You put that on there. Right.

So that's one done.

A few more. What's Gaelic for "haunless"?

NICK CHUCKLES

Try and not squish them as well.

OK. There you go.

NICK APPLAUDS

That's one in 34 seconds. Only another 20 or 30 to do.

So while I get frustrated shelling,

Nick's going to finely chop some garlic and parsley.

Good work. Good work, my friend. Thank you.

So next bit is very simple. We're just going to take some butter.

A little pat in here.

A fair amount of butter. A fair amount of butter, yes.

You might be right, I might be a wee bit OTT on the butter.

So, going to melt a bit of butter in the pan.

In with the garlic, a fair old pile of garlic as well.

We're just going to soften the garlic down in the butter.

A bit of chopped parsley. Squatties, in they go.

And they really just need to be warmed through...

..in the garlic butter

and you'll see that they just absorb it.

In it goes there and then, of course, to finish it off,

a little bit of lemon juice over the top,

a little bit of seasoning, a bit of salt.

A bit of freshly ground black pepper.

Ha-ha-ha!

There we go, that's it, job's done.

As simple as that? It is as simple as that. I want you to taste one.

OK, happily, very happily. OK.

My goodness!

How good is that? That is sensational.

It really is, that is world-class, Michelin-star,

out-the-ballpark brilliant.

Well, we love them, but let's see what the good citizens of Oban

make of squatties in garlic butter.

So plate 'em up and we'll feed 'em.

Do you know what these little guys are? What are they?

Um, well, do you want to taste?

Absolutely excellent. Uh-huh. Mmm.

Actually that's really good. You like it? Yes.

Squat lobsters. Are they indeed?

Yeah. I wouldn't have believed that.

They're very, very good indeed.

Mmm, delicious!

I can taste the garlic and the lemon and everything

and it just all works really well together, it's really good.

I would say it's overpowered by the garlic butter... NICK GROANS LOUDLY

..being perfectly honest!

Overpowered? By the garlic butter?

They are nice, they are really, really nice. I would buy them.

Oh, they are exquisite. I don't know what the are, but... Squat lobsters.

Are they? Squatties, little squat lobsters, yeah.

Oh, very good.

Do you like the garlic?

I don't know whether he'd like the garlic tonight, but, yeah,

the garlic is tremendous.

How was the garlic in that?

The garlic was fantastic. NICK LAUGHS LOUDLY

That's the right answer.

Everybody who had a taste of that absolutely adored it.

I had one chap who thought the garlic

was maybe a little heavy-handed.

I disagree. I think that was a triumph. Yeah, I agree.

If you've never tasted squat lobsters before,

try and taste them, they're lovely.

But get someone else to shell them, because that is a footery thing.

That's all that we have time for on this week's programme.

Here's what's coming up next time around.

We meet the sheep with a taste for the sea.

So they follow the tide as it goes out and graze out there?

Pretty much, yeah.

Sarah takes a tour of the smallest community buyout in Scotland.

Yeah, this is the lantern area.

Wow. Modern lantern now. What a view.

Amazing. Quite amazing, isn't it?

And we reveal the results of a major new report

on the state of our nature.

In a typical ravine, you'd have the same number of species

as you would in a tropical rainforest. Really? As many as that?

That's how species-rich it is.

So join us again next Friday, 7:30pm, BBC One Scotland.

In the meantime, from all the Landward team here in Oban,

thank you so much for your company.

Bye for now. Goodbye.