by DOUG COLLIE
Preliminary estimates suggest up to 10,000 salmon were caught by rod fishermen on the Tweed this year, a figure which is in sharp contrast to the numbers taken by anglers in recent seasons.
The 2020 return - up from a 'dismal' 6,814 fish caught in 2019 - is all the more remarkable given that angling was only taking place from June to October with February and March virtually wiped out by floods and other adverse weather conditions, and May, June and November affected by Covid restrictions and a resultant lack of visitors.
During last year The Guardian published a special feature on Scotland's 'salmon crisis', suggesting that "on the Tweed Atlantic fish have all but disappeared".
A far cry from 2015 when a specially commissioned report suggested Tweed fishing supported more than 500 jobs in the recreation and hospitality sectors, and was worth an estimated £24 million to the Scottish Borders economy.
The seasonal totals in recent years have certainly made grim reading for the owners of salmon beats along a river which remains one of the most productive in the angling world. Many fishing days have been unlet, drastically reducing income for proprietors.
Following a bumper haul of 20,316 in 2013 numbers have shown a worrying decline in the following six years. The totals recorded in successive annual reports of the River Tweed Commission which manages fishing activity were: 2014 9,971; 2015 8,644; 2016 8,221; 2017 7,003; 2018 6,129; and 2019 6,814.
The official count for 2020 - the season officially ended on November 30th - will be published next March in the Commission's annual report for 2020. But according to at least one estimate produced by the Tweedbeats website blog run by the owner of a beat in the Coldstream area in excess of 9,000 and possibly over 10,000 salmon have been landed this time round.
One popular beat with a five year average of 175 caught reported 385 in 2020 while another stretch of river's return this year was 425 compared to just 119 in 2019.
A series of charts on the FishPal website which handles angling bookings for more than 40 beats on the Tweed and its tributaries suggest a combined catch of just under 6,000 salmon against a 2019 return of about 3,700 and a five year average under 4,000.
The lack of Atlantic salmon in the Tweed post 2013 has been a talking point among anglers, owners and scientists with different 'experts' pinning the blame on climate change, grey seals and the Northumberland drift net fishery which has now been closed and taken out of the equation.
One angling expert observed: "Now they'll all be trying to piece together the reasons for the resurgence in salmon numbers on the Tweed. I'd say Mother Nature has a large part to play, and it seems this year's total could have been very much higher had it not been for the pandemic and the atrocious weather early in the season.
"However, one good year doesn't mean the good times have returned permanently. We will be watching the 2021 catch numbers very closely when, hopefully, restrictions on angling due to Covid will be lifted".
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