by DOUGLAS SHEPHERD
Anglers on the Tweed have been urged not to kill any of the fish they catch between now and the end of the season on November 30th as concern grows for the survival of the endangered Atlantic salmon.
It has been estimated that hundreds of salmon hooked or netted on the Borders river last year were despatched after being caught even though many other rivers in Scotland and further afield had already adopted a 100% catch and release regime.
In an open letter to fishery proprietors on Saturday, Jonathan Reddin, Chief Commissioner with the River Tweed Commission (RTC) told the owners: "Against a backdrop of declining adult salmon abundance throughout its range, the Commission is actively encouraging anglers to maintain the upward trend in catch and release rates and to follow best practice guidelines for returning fish."
Mr Reddin said the RTC, like other Boards and Trusts in Scotland, was working with a broad range of stakeholders to address a number of identified pressures on the Atlantic salmon. These include water quality, quantity (specifically the effects of temperature extremes on fish), riparian planting to offer river shade, pollution control, barrier removal or improvement, predation and enforcement.
He added: "Rod exploitation of different salmon stocks is a particularly important pressure, with appropriate Tweed management actions in place for Spring, Summer and Autumn fish. The introduction of a Catch and Release [C&R] policy for Atlantic salmon is not a new topic for the RTC.
"In 2010 the Commission considered evidence presented by the Tweed Foundation which led to the adoption of a 100% C&R policy in the Spring for the whole of the Tweed Catchment. In 2015, the Scottish Government introduced a Spring Close Time Order, with a mandatory 100% C&R requirement from the 1st of February to the 31st of March.
"While the RTC welcomed the Order, we further committed to the conservation of salmon by choosing to maintain the voluntary 100% C&R until the end of June. In addition to our Spring Policy, the RTC also introduced a 100% release of all hen fish after the 14th of September."
Mr Reddin said the RTC was committed to ensuring that fisheries for wild Atlantic salmon were sustainable and had actively engaged with individual fishing beats to comply with the Tweed codes and to operate best practice when handling those fish returned.
"Our engagement has resulted in an increase in the rates of C&R from 2008 with 96% achieved in 2022. However, after a drop in the return rate to 93.1% in 2023, the lowest return of the four main salmon rivers in Scotland, we would like to remind anglers of the importance of maximising release rates. Tagging and radio-tracking studies have demonstrated high survival rates and successful spawning for salmon released after capture – up to 100% under certain conditions. However, the longer a fish is out of water, or poorly handled, the less chance it has of survival.
"Whilst not mandatory we recommend Fisheries to consider their policy on Catch and Release and extend it to 100% for the full season. The simplest way for anglers and ghillies to make a positive and significant contribution to salmon conservation is through best practice, catch and release."
Writing on his Tweedbeats website in May, local fishery proprietor Andrew Douglas-Home again made the case for 100% C&R on the Tweed.
He stated: "In 2023 there was a minimum of 366 salmon reported as killed by Tweed rods. I say “minimum” and “reported” because of course those who would kill, and not record, get a free run, for who would ever know?
"The Tweed net at Gardo [near the river mouth at Berwick] killed 246 salmon, a pariah to many but, yet again, they killed fewer than the rods, which is not a good look for the rods. Our Tweed rods killed almost 1 in 3 of the salmon killed in 2023 in the whole of Scotland. 1 in 2.5 of all the salmon killed in Scotland, including the nets, were killed on the Tweed."
Mr Douglas-Home pointed out that the Tweed still catches more salmon than any other river in Scotland, and the scientific view was that killing 612 Tweed salmon, between rods and nets in 2023, was not critical to the spawning effort.
"However, by the opposite token, ICES (International Council for Exploration of the Seas) has said that catch and release has been a crucial component in maintaining reasonably stable spawning numbers. But as a species under threat, endangered even, it just looks pretty awful allowing, tantamount to condoning, any deliberate killing."
In his latest Tweedbeats editorial published today, Mr Douglas-Home offers this comment on Mr Reddin's open letter: "This is, absolutely and unreservedly, the right thing to do."
But he also expressed anger after learning that salmon had been caught and killed while he had been away from home.
He writes: "Imagine the dismay, on returning from a brief Gallic adventure, to find our tenants here both upset and annoyed, one of them especially walked off the river after witnessing beautiful fresh Atlantic salmon being killed and carried dead up the opposite bank. He was visibly upset and annoyed that any anglers could be so myopic and supremely selfish, in the face of what we are all trying to do, which is save the species and at the same time continue to enjoy our fishing.
"That the people who booked the fishing there did so specifically after 1st July so that they could (legally) kill a salmon cannot really be in doubt, for I am told they did exactly the same thing last year, killing some/many of what they caught.
"Sadly, it may be that the only way to stop this is to make the killing of any Atlantic salmon in Scotland illegal; it should not be necessary, we should be able to self regulate, but can we? On the evidence of last week, the sad answer is 'No'".
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