2013 Magazine - Royal Caledonian Ball

managers look after their salmon stocks in a
more informed way. And whilst it is true
that salmon are finding life, during the years
that they spend at sea, harder - possibly as a
result of significant changes in the marine
climate - managers at home are learning
how to offset some of the these problems
through a number of management measures.
For example, Scotland’s salmon fishermen
now return over 70% of the fish they catch,
allowing fishermen to enjoy their sport
whilst significantly reducing the impact on
populations. Furthermore net fisheries that,
in the 1960’s, took as many as half a million
fish a year now take a mere 10-20000 due to
net buy outs for conservation. Habitats have
been restored and large parts of catchments
that were not accessible to fish have been
made so through the removal of weirs and
dams allowing whole tributaries, that have
been blocked since the industrial revolution,
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to flourish. On top of this the quality of
Scotland’s rivers has steadily improved due
to tighter environmental regulations. Even
heavily industrialised rivers like the River
Clyde are now seeing salmon swimming
amidst the tenements of downtown
Glasgow.
Scotland’s salmon fishermen now catch
around 85-95000 salmon a year. In 2010 the
highest ever rod catch was recorded during a
bumper year that saw 110,000 fish caught by
anglers. This is proof that, despite all the
problems facing our natural environment,
this fabulous fish can still produce thrilling
sport the match of salmon fishing anywhere
else in the world. Scotland also enjoys an
eleven month long season during most of
which Norwegian, Icelandic and Russian
fishermen are staring gloomily into their
vodka glasses in perpetual darkness.
Combine this with the great traditions of the
sport, for which Scotland is very much the
mother-ship, and the significant number of
jobs (over 2500) in the rural economy and it
is quite clear that this very Caledonian
resource is something that, yes, continues to
need nurturing and protecting, but of which
we can all still feel justifiably proud. For
more information and a copy of our annual
review of Scottish catches, go to:
www.rafts.org.uk
Andrew Wallace
Chairman – Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of
Scotland