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If you wish to magnet fish on any of our waterways, you must first have:

  • Permission from Scottish Canals (the landowners)
  • Scheduled Monument Consent from Historic Environment Scotland (because the canals are scheduled monuments)

Landowner’s permission

You must obtain contact Scottish Canals permission as the landowner.  Please submit your request by email to enquiries@scottishcanals.co.uk - please ensure you include the following information: 

Full Name, Address, Phone Number, Email Address. 
Canal you are requesting permission to magnet fish on.
Exact location proposed (i.e. grid reference or what3words)
Date(s) of proposed activity 
Method (i.e. from the bank or from a boat)
Confirm membership of magnet fishing group - if yes, which.  

Scheduled Monument Consent

If we provide our consent, you can then apply for Scheduled Monument Consent directly to Historic Environment Scotland - HERE

Applications can take up to two months to be reviewed. 

If you have any further questions, you can contact Historic Environment Scotland on hmenquiries@hes.scot. 

Official Magnet Fishing Scotland already has Scheduled Monument Consent from Historic Environment Scotland. This covers their members, so by joining you can take part in the activity as an individual or part of a group. Official Magnet Fishing Scotland currently has consent to magnet fish between Leamington Lift Bridge and Hermiston Aqueduct on the Union Canal. It’s also applying for consents to cover areas of the Forth & Clyde and Caledonian Canals. You can join Official Magnet Fishing Scotland by emailing officialmagnetfishingscotland@gmail.com or joining their Facebook group here.

Magnet fishing without consent

Scheduled Monument Consent is a legal requirement for magnet fishing on Scotland’s canals. Magnet fishing without this consent would be viewed as unauthorised work on a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland and could lead to fines of up to £50,000. You can read more about this here on Historic Environment Scotland’s website. Should you have any queries about Scheduled Monument Consent you can contact Historic Environment Scotland on hmenquiries@hes.scot.

Further information

Location

Place
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Falkirk, Crinan, Inverness, Fort William
Canal
Caledonian Canal
Crinan Canal
Forth & Clyde Canal
Union Canal
Monkland Canal

Opening Hours

Seek consent

Prices

Free

Useful information

You can view our frequently asked questions on magnet fishing below.

Magnet fishing leaflet

The leaflet below contains information on magnet fishing in Scheduled Canals and protected waters

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