12 March 2023 News/Editorial
Little changed last week, with similar numbers of few, but incomparably fine, fish (see Instagram for the 24lber caught by Lee Craig at Carham). The river dropped further, proper rain over the last few weeks being the scarcest of commodities, and angling conditions were good, if very cold, with the water temperature barely reaching 40F.
As for next week, it will change, to less cold, prevailing wetter and windier weather, possibly both rising water levels and increasing its temperature. Unsettled weather might lose some fishing days, but more and warmer fresh water could also encourage fish to come in from the sea.
As always with the weather, we will get what we get.
--00--
Despite small numbers so far, it is no easy matter keeping track of catch totals, what with two websites and beats who report to nobody. This becomes more tricky, obviously, as the year progresses, and catches mount.
The only attempt at running annual totals anywhere is on the Fishpal website, under “Season so far”. In 2022, it shows the Tweed total catch at something under 3,500 salmon. It is very careful, in the preamble, to say this only reflects beats reporting to Fishpal. But how many people read the caveat and appreciate that it represents no more than 50-60% of the true Tweed total (we now know the total for 2022 was 6,690 salmon)?
The good news is that there is now, at last, a concerted attempt to do something about it. Led by the River Tweed Commission, with cooperation from Fishpal, Tweedbeats, fishery owners and ghillies, it may be possible to come up with a solution. The commercial point is that up to now the Tweed, on a daily basis, has been underselling itself in comparison to other rivers, the Dee and Tay especially, both of which routinely record (almost) whole river catches. We will never be able to fully record the daily catches of all Tweed rod fisheries (there are some 150), but if we could achieve somewhere near 90-95% accuracy, that would be a whole lot better than where we are now. Some owners, of course, for perfectly valid reasons of their own, may not want to take part, and their wishes must be fully respected. It only works if it is voluntarily and willingly done.
There are many pitfalls to be overcome, and for the time being to reach a total you will have to add the Fishpal to the Tweedbeats total, deduct those that report on both, add the estimated figures for non reporters Junction, Sprouston, Tweedmill, Lennel, Cornhill, Upper Pavilion, Old Melrose, Gledswood, West Newbiggin, Wathham and Dritness, Maxton, Upper/Middle Mertoun et al, to get anywhere near a total.
You see what I mean. It will not be easy. But with goodwill, achievable.
--00--
The 2022 Annual Report and Accounts for the River Tweed Commission was published at the AGM last Monday.
The highlights of the 2022 season were these:
Total rod catch of salmon 6,690 (2021-5,862; 5 year average-6,810)
Total salmon returned/released 96.1% (2021-93.5%)
Spring rod catch of salmon 1,804 (2021-1,416; 5 year average-1,458)
Total nets catch of salmon 414 (2021-581)
The nets (414) killed more salmon than the rods (261) for the second year running; not only that but the nets, against the specific scientific advice of the Tweed Foundation and the RTC, continued to kill spring salmon (44 in 2022) in both April and May. The rods cannot, and do not, deliberately kill any salmon they catch until 1st July.
What conclusions can we draw? That 2022 was nothing like as bad as it might have been, given the impossible angling conditions caused by one of the hottest and driest summers in living memory. The spring was slightly better than average, the summer damaged by fishing conditions, and the autumn catch was good (if almost all coloured summer fish) until November when, as has become the norm, successful angling quickly fizzled out.
In short, although there is no sign of any sustained upturn in salmon catches or numbers yet, 2022 demonstrated a continuing trend, crucially with no sign of any further decline since the autumn collapse of 2014. There is comfort in this stability and consistency. A steady and secure base from which, we can all hope, things will eventually improve.
--00--
The extraordinary number of fish farm salmon deaths in 2022 (16 million, over 43,000 every day of the year, way up from a mere 9 million in 2021) has prompted the Greens in Scotland to call for a moratorium on any further fish farm expansion in the sea.
Whereas this is to be welcomed, what they should really be calling for is close containment of all existing salmon farming operations around the Scottish coast, so that the many and various impacts on the marine environment, and on wild salmon populations in particular, are halted.
Until they do that, they can be accused of simply rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic that is the unacceptable practices of the fish farming industry in Scotland. I only wish I had the opportunity to ask Tavish Scott, ex MSP and now CEO of the Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation, chief apologist for the salmon farming industry, how he can explain/justify 43,000 salmon dying of disease in every single day of 2022. It is an unimaginable horror. I wouldn’t expect a very convincing explanation, albeit coupled with the everlasting promises that things will improve.
They won’t, or at least not until close containment of all fish farm facilities either inland or in the sea becomes mandatory. Only then will the marine environment and our wild fish be protected.
our twitter feed