Salmon Fishing Scotland 2008 Opening Day on the river Tay.

Salmon Fishing Scotland 2008 Opening Day on the river Tay.

This is the Pitlochrie Pool on the Stanley Beats at Stanley,Perthshire,Scotland.
This was the article in the Financial Times By Andrew Bolger, Scotland Correspondent
New rules boost salmon catches.
Scotland’s salmon fishing season got under way on Tuesday amid high hopes that better conservation and marketing will broaden the appeal of the sport beyond its traditionally exclusive image.
Catches of the “king of fish” have improved recently, thanks to measures such as the buying out of fixed-net coastal fisheries, and campaigns to encourage anglers to return more of the fish they catch.
Salmon fishing supports more than 2,000 jobs in Scotland’s rural communities. with anglers paying up to £1,000 per day in the autumn for the best stretches on leading salmon rivers – such as the Tweed – but most are far less expensive.
Andrew Graham-Stewart, an expert on salmon and trout fishing, said: “Most salmon fishing costs less than £500 a week, which is not a lot of money when you compare it with golf, or any other pleasurable activity.”
VisitScotland, the tourism body, is also keen to challenge salmon fishing’s image as a preserve of the prosperous. The average cost of the 50,000 days available on the FishScotland website is just £50.
It is estimated more than 90,000 salmon and the young fish known as grilse were caught last year – one of the highest figures since records began in 1952.
Fishing authorities also want to increase the proportion of salmon that are returned to the water by anglers, which in 2006 averaged 55 per cent of the total rod catch across Scotland.
On the Tay, which opened on Tuesday, only 35 per cent of the fish caught were released. Now new rules recommend that the first salmon caught each day by each individual angler must be released. Each angler then has the option of keeping one subsequent fish only, per day. From June 1 to the end of the season, all female fish should be released.
John Milligan, chairman of the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board, said the aim was to increase dramatically the number of salmon that survived to spawn. On the Dee more than 90 per cent of salmon caught by anglers were released, and on the Spey more than 70 per cent.
“There is absolutely no reason why Tay anglers should not achieve similar figures so that many million more eggs can be laid in the river,” he said.
Mr Milligan was optimistic that anglers would heed the appeals.
“We have no desire to seek mandatory powers to compel anglers to release fish, but we will not hesitate to do so if the new recommendations are not closely adhered to,” he said.
However, Mr Milligan also said river boards were having to deal with the problem of increasing mortality of salmon at sea, caused by factors beyond their control relating to climate change.