14 August 2022 News/Editorial
My early (to avoid them getting too hot) Sunday morning dogs walk took me to the Learmouth Stream, where I sat on the bench for a moment’s rest. To my surprise it was alive with fish, sploshing about off the point in the deep and streamy water, none the worse, it would seem, for the very warm and weed filled water they have had to endure. Their summer ordeal is almost over, as cooler and wetter weather arrives, and as the nights become colder anyway as we near September. I walked back past over 200 geese paddling in the river, a mixture of Canada and Grey Lag, the latter now breeding here, whereas before you never used to see them until the 2nd/3rd week of September migration, from all points north, arrived.
I contemplated taking the water temperature as we walked past the hut, but the dogs were impatient to get home. On Friday it was 66F in the morning and 76F in the evening, just below critical for fish; a much more knowledgeable friend and Foundation trustee told me that in 1976 it was more the high Ph level (over 10.5) that killed them, not the heat.
There is little more to be said about the state of the river, for we can pretty much write off fishing until there is rain, preferably enough for a 6ft flood, so distressed is the river now with floating weed, rotting weed, heat and increasingly low water levels. Folk say they have never seen it so low, maybe they have not, but that it has been as low, even lower, before should not be doubted. 1976 again.
Rain is forecast, thunderstorms even, but as this goes to press, whether they hit the Tweed catchment and in sufficient quantity to make any appreciable difference, is all to play for. We can only hope that, one day, enough water to clean the river out will arrive. Until then productive and enjoyable salmon fishing is well and truly on hold.
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The Scottish Government has issued the following https://www.gov.scot/publications/salmon-fishing-proposed-river-gradings/pages/proposal-on-catch-and-release-rates/ in respect of achieving 100% catch and release for all wild salmon catches by rod, by voluntary measures if possible but if not, by changing the law. My views on this are well known and it is gratifying to see the Government coming up with the same view. Responses to the consultation can be made online, as you will see if you click on the link.
Also issued are the Scottish river gradings for 2023. Of the 173 rivers, only 29 (including the Tweed) are in the “some exploitation sustainable/not immediately at risk” category 1; 31 are in category 2 (only reduced exploitation allowed), and 113 (12 more than in 2022) in category 3 (exploitation not sustainable/most at risk) where no killing of salmon is allowed.
On the assumption that the Government, one way or another, imposes 100% catch and release for 2023 on all Scottish rivers, there are three questions that arise as a result.
1. If the rods cannot kill any salmon, what happens to the Gardo net? It cannot be right that the Government effectively forbids the killing of wild salmon by the rods on the Tweed, but allows wild salmon to be killed by the nets. As it seems unlikely that Gardo will give up killing voluntarily, given their past track record of killing spring salmon, the mandatory/change of law route may be the only one for the Tweed.
2. Does “release” mean you cannot retain a salmon, even if it dies and cannot be revived? One suspects it might have to mean that, given the less scrupulous rods who will take a salmon, claiming it had died, when it had not.
3. If all rivers are 100% catch and release, does that mean the end of the annual grading system? One suspects not because some sort of annual review will still be needed. One of the questions is how often should 100% catch and release be reviewed, every year, every 3 years etc? Presumably the sensible/precautionary approach is to loosen the reins only when an immutable trend of improving numbers of adults (over a minimum of 5/10 years?) has been established?
Whatever the detail, this move by the Scottish Government should be applauded by all those concerned at the continuing decline in numbers of returning adult Atlantic salmon to our shores.
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By way of emphasising how different/bad things have become, even here on the Tweed, see the two pictures from October 1982 from my fishing book.
Three things stick out; 1. How silver the October fish were (of the 9th October ones, only 3 of the 10 did not have long tailed sea lice, they all had sea lice).
2. How big they were (averaging 14lbs and 16lbs respectively).
3. We killed them all, as everyone did (bar really manky old kippers/hen fish) in those days.
What an extraordinary change over 40 years. Now, you will never see silver salmon en masse in October, they will be nothing like as big on average, and none (hopefully) would be killed.
It is a shock to see how things were then, and how they are now. Three more things have not changed. First, I am still rowing the boat for my friends, and, secondly, no, they still are not giving me a tip.
The third?
40 years on I have, smugly, as much, if just a tad greyer, hair as ever.
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