Sweep net monitoring of sea trout post smolts has been carried out for a varying length of time by fisheries trusts on the West Coast of Scotland. This monitoring is now funded by the Tripartite Working Group. Additional funding was provided in 2008 to cover areas where no sweep netting data had been gathered previously.
Prior to 2008 sampling in Wester Ross had been carried out using various methods including rod and line, fyke nets, and gill nets. The TWG requested that sweep netting be carried out so that post smolt data gathered by all trusts and Regional Development Officers (RDO's) could be compared. Therefore the Wester Ross Fisheries Trust (WRFT) biologist and the RDO for Wester Ross and West Sutherland selected sites and began a sweep netting programme to cover the Wester Ross area. For West Sutherland's historical sea lice sampling reports see www.wsft.co.uk, and for Wester Ross www.wrft.org.uk