news/editorial

14 May 2023 News/Editorial

Another week goes by with similar catches, maybe a few more than the previous two (both about 60 salmon), but increasingly difficult to tell with the number of non reporting beats, notably in the Tweed spring fishing “engine room” between Sprouston and Upper Floors.

The conclusion, particularly when you look at the results from our fellow east coast big rivers (Dee and Tay, I know nothing of the Spey), is that the 2023 spring run of Atlantic salmon, to Scotland generally, has been poor. No excuses seem possible (the normal one trotted out is unfavourable angling conditions) when this spring has been amongst the most benign, in terms of water and weather, on the river.

Although unsettled last week, those wanting a good flood (arguably the river could do with it, to clean the gravel) may have missed their chance pro tem, in that next week looks to be, if not completely dry, producing no appreciable rain. Whereas Middle Mertoun was the top scorer last week (amongst those visible), the gravy could well revert to being below Kelso, Coldstream even, as water levels inevitably continue to drop in the week ahead.

If, like me, you are fed up with the cold north and east winds prevailing for the last month or so, there should be something more gentle and westerly in store for next week. The gathering high pressure is scheduled to last for the whole of the week after next, as well.

--00--

At the risk of being controversial (!), you do wonder what planet some anglers are on when they question the effectiveness of catch and release, pointing at (poor-ish) springs, such as this, to prove that C & R has done no good, as if somehow their (presumably) “killing” beliefs have been vindicated.

Those who do not like catch and release for moral reasons must be respected, and one assumes they have pretty much given up fishing for salmon. Fair enough, a pity I would say, but hard to see what else they can do and keep their entirely valid principles intact.

Morals aside (tricky, but bear with me), for most it is a simple question of survival. Do we endanger the Atlantic salmon by continuing the previous, over many decades, practice of killing almost everything you catch? Do we increase the chances of the Atlantic salmon surviving, long term, if we spare those we catch to continue upstream, to spawn?

If the answer to both those questions, on the balance of probabilities, is “yes”, then, for most of us, that is all we need to know.

I used to ask Ronald Campbell, ex Tweed head biologist, how many springers he thought the Tweed had, bearing in mind rod catches over the years and the fish counter results (especially Ettrick). I haven’t asked his successor, James Hunt, for an update, but it is hard to imagine he would say numbers have increased over the last 10 years.

Very reluctantly, for scientists hate guesswork, Ronald would plump for around 6,000 as the sum total of the Tweed spring salmon population. He would, again most reluctantly, say that it looked about right, given spring rod catches of 1,500-2000 and salmon numbers up the Ettrick of around 3,000, whilst recognising (a) that maybe not half the spring run goes up the Ettrick, (b) that perhaps/certainly not all Ettrick salmon are springers and (c) that rod catch rates for springers can be as high as 20%-40% (in stark contrast to their autumn running friends, often well below 10%), and (d) many other caveats.

For argument’s sake, let us take 6,000 as ballpark, more in a good spring, fewer in a poor one.

Those 6,000 are all that stands between the Tweed as it now is, and not having a viable salmon angling spring season. Would you rather have 95% + of those salmon (mortality rates after catch and release are not nearly as high as some naysayers make out) spawning in October/November, or would you rather kill everything you catch and have just (say) 4,000 spawning? Crucially, in a poor spring such as this, both those figures could be very much lower. The current Tweed policy of killing nothing (the rods) until 1st July is both proportionate to the dangers and precautionary.

And finally, those who say springs such as this prove catch and release does no good, cannot possibly know that it would not be even worse without it. That way goes the risk of complete shut down, no angling at all, like so many Irish rivers recently, and like the great river Tana in Norway/Finland.

None of us want that.

--00--

We will be on our annual joyful pilgrimage to the River Test next week. You will be relieved to be spared further troubling fishy thoughts in these pages next week.

Until the 28th May then.