A cool aristo thriving in the hot seat

As Scottish aristos go, they don't come much more illustrious than this. James Randolph Lindesay-Bethune (pronounced Beeton), 16th Earl of Lindsay, counts among his line doughty men who were at the heart of Scottish history in its most turbulent times and, when the going got rough as Jacobite fortunes declined, were also at the heart of others' troubles furth of Scotland.

The newest Lindsay is a Fife farmer who grows Golden Promise barley for the whisky industry. He is impressively draped in not just ermine but also the robes of the new religion, conservation.

By a delicious irony, he is also chairman of Scottish Quality Salmon, the organisation which succeeded the Scottish Salmon Growers' Association. Things are changing but salmon farming is finding it hard to shake of its ''dirty'' tag.

The accusations of use of harmful chemicals to control sea-lice, rampant disease in the sea-cages, gross pollution under the cages, and the alleged destruction of West Coast wild sea trout populations by sea-lice infestation still persist.

The salmon farmers are attracting a

better press, largely because they appear to be cleaning up their act but also, undoubtedly, because of the presence of Jamie, Earl of Lindsay. Like the brighter and

better of his class, Jamie Lindsay carries no obvious baggage directly related to it. But it is there in his gentle manners, his polish, and his easy humour.

He is conscious of his family's history of public service to the point that he took his seat in the Lords partly because it was an opportunity to enter politics, but importantly because it served history.

Most of us probably have no idea that the Russians had ambitions on Persia in the eighteenth century but, he points out, Henry, the 9th Earl, was born 40 years after the '45 and, as commander of the Shah's army, kept the Russians out of

Persia for 15 years. He was created a baronet at the request of the Shah.

Earlier times had witnessed 400-plus years of service, much of it distinguished, in Scottish public life. The second son of Lord Lindsay of the Byres, David, presented the ''great grey horse'' to James III on the eve of the Battle of Sauchieburn in 1488 while his brother, John, who succeeded him, was known as ''John Out with the Sword''. The fourth Lord, Patrick, was granted the Sheriffdom of Fife for himself, and his grandson, John, who succeeded him, was one of the four nobles charged with ensuring the survival of the infant Mary Queen of Scots in 1542.

His successor was Patrick, sixth Lord, who hated his father's politics and

detested Mary Queen of Scots. Patrick, says the present Earl, ''was a complete ruffian - that century's equivalent of a lager lout'', who took particular delight in disrupting Mary's Masses.

Having been one of the four who murdered Rizzio, he was instrumental in deposing Mary and having her imprisoned at Loch Leven Castle where she was

cruelly mistreated.

''Until the end of the Stuart era we played a high-profile public service role, constructive and statesmanlike. The behaviour of Patrick was a serious blip which we all regret and since apologising is all the rage these days I suppose I should apologise for Patrick.''

After Eton, he went to Edinburgh University, graduated in economic history, and then on to the University of California, Davis, ''to re-skill in land-orientated disciplines''. When he took his seat in the Lords it was so he could engage in the growing debate on environmental issues. He cannot give a rational reason for going to the Conservative benches. ''It was my interest in policies, not politics, which drove me. I am very comfortable with the Scottish Conservative tradition which is, generally speaking, more centrist and more liberal with a small 'l'.''

Jamie Lindsay believes Scottish Conservatism is a clearly definable animal, manifestly different from the species found in southern England. The past five years, he says, have rejuvenated Toryism here. Force of circumstance has had an extraordinary effect.

Why does he run so fast? He is a

member of the Government's UK Round Table on Sustainable Development, a board member of the Cairngorm Partnership, a non-executive director of the UA Group (United Auctions) plc, chairman of RSPB Scotland, president of the International Tree Foundation, a member of the advisory council for the World Resource Foundation until last year, not to mention a host of government and quasi-governmental environment bodies.

The Institute of Waste Management made him an honorary fellow and five years ago he was given the Green Ribbon Political Award for his contribution on environmental issues.

''I care,'' he says.

''I am motivated and it is all rewarding. I am involved in issues which are very challenging and which are vital and I could not maintain this level of activity if my heart was not in it.''

But does he pause to smell the flowers?

''Good question . . . a kestrel hovering, or a sedge warbler at the roadside - that is invigorating and recharges the batteries. I could not lie on a beach in Spain. If we are not in Fife we are in Knoydart where the conjunction of mountains and sea, the ability to fish, sail, enjoy the very best of Scotland - that is invigorating. We may not be conscious of it but living in this wonderful place is a huge bonus.''

Jamie Lindsay sees himself as a solution seeker; the salmon farming industry, apart from touching on many of his interests, gave him a real opportunity to work on multilateral solutions. ''People who were once seen as sceptics or critics we now spend much time with looking for joint solutions, trying to see where our separate interests can be conflated. We now meet with all the main wild-fish organisations. We have a tri-partite project involving Scottish Quality Salmon as the leading edge of the industry, the leading wild-fish organisations, and the Scottish Executive.

''I think we now have a vehicle with which we can resolve all the issues involving the farmed salmon industry. We have members sitting round the table with the wild-fish interests in individual sea lochs. We have stepped away from megaphone diplomacy,'' he states.

In its early days the sea-cage industry did not have time to appreciate the vital importance of public relations, communication, and consultation. ''We should give them credit, however, because

they built up a 6500-job industry for Scotland in a couple of decades, creating a product which has international recognition. The creation of Scottish Quality Salmon was the industry getting its act together and we are now setting a benchmark for others.

''We have one over-riding purpose which is to demonstrate sustainability in an industry which is of critical importance to Scotland. The fast-growing, adolescent period of the industry is far behind us. Salmon farming has grown up.''

Jamie Lindsay is critical of the recent, much-publicised paper in Nature, the leading scientific journal, which slammed the entire aquaculture industry worldwide as ecologically unsound.

Despite the quality of the authors, there were misleading assumptions and assertions, including a repetition of the claim of a three-to-one ration of wild fish required to produce farmed salmon. The real figure in Scotland among SQS members is

closer now to one-to-one, he claims, the elimination of waste-producing better-quality fish and much less detrimental fall-out in the sea lochs.

But can he reconcile getting into bed with such an environmentally controversial industry with his chairmanship of an organisation like RSPB Scotland?

''My parallel commitment to the RSPB sits comfortably. Both organisations want sustainability above all, so the two jobs have a unity of purpose. The RSPB wants to see this industry demonstrate its sustainability as does the wild-fish interest.

''But fish farmers have a huge investment in health and survival of fish in the sea lochs, so our interests are very close. The wild-fish interests also recognise that if the farmed salmon industry were to collapse tomorrow, their interest would be damaged as pressure increased on fragile wild populations.''