We have to find ways to address the salmon crisis
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COLUMN: Northern Lines by Dr Keith Williams
Buoyed by a modest flurry of spring salmon being caught on my local rivers, I have somewhat belatedly made my first casts of the season.
There was snow on the ground and the air temperature hovered barely above freezing. Despite the frigid conditions, some welcome winter sunshine lent the day a benign feel and I thoroughly enjoyed myself despite catching nothing. It was good to be reacquainted with familiar pools and put a fly into lies that have yielded fish to my rod in seasons past.
But as the day progressed, my thoughts turned away from the past and towards what the future holds, both for the salmon and those of us that fish for them.
In response to the precipitous decline in catches - the so-called ‘salmon crisis’ – the Scottish Government published its Wild Salmon Strategy in January. There are many views as to the root cause of salmon abundance declines, but there is some consensus on the pressures they face. The strategy distils the issues into a little more than a dozen themes.
There will be little surprise amongst the angling community as to some of the pressures included in the list: obstacles and barriers to migration; predation; issues relating to aquaculture; and water quality.
The fisheries sector now awaits the publication of the all-important implementation plan that will accompany the strategy. No doubt there will be cynicism in many quarters as to the levels of political resolve that will ultimately be injected into the process. There have been false dawns in the past, experience teaching us that environmental concerns often play second fiddle to immediate economic necessity.
I cannot help but think we have reached a watershed moment in the future of the species. Most of my non-fishing friends regard a number of species as being synonymous with Scotland. Salmon typically sit firmly alongside eagles, grouse and deer in what they perceive to be the nation’s iconic species.
Visitors and locals alike are drawn to famous salmon leaps, such as Rogie Falls and Shin Falls, to view the wonderous spectacle of silver fish returning home from their ocean odyssey.
If we truly value the fish, whether our motivation be ecological or economic, and wish to ensure they have a long-term future then both individually and as a society as a whole we have to find ways of helping them more, starting with our political leaders.
Dr Keith Williams is a director of Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries.
