news/editorial

21 May 2017 News/Editorial

As the numbers of springers killed by the Gardo netsmen mount (they have been at it for a month now), you really have to scratch your head as to why they are doing it…….unless, of course, it may simply be this.

The money.

The word is that they have killed 50 springers so far, maybe they get £300/salmon, so that’s £15,000. Not bad for a month’s work, especially when you consider (a) that it is pocket money for those involved eg Mr Hindhaugh, as regional sales director of McCreath Simpson & Prentice, can hardly claim he depends on the income for his livelihood, and (b) that the Tweed assessment on those net caught fish currently stands at a measly £4/salmon (something which will now surely change), compared to over £100/salmon for a rod caught salmon.

At those sorts of figures, it must be a highly profitable business.

Very simply, Mr Hindhaugh, the Berwick Harbour Commissioners and their friends don’t give a toss for the future wellbeing of our spring salmon, and are effectively sticking two fingers at the rest of the Tweed community, many of whose livelihoods (over 500 full time jobs) do depend on the survival of our springers.

Without spring rod fishing, Tweed’s season becomes 4-6 months at best, and you don’t get many full time jobs out of that.

The previously agreed date for netting for salmon to start was 16th June, because by then all springers have come into the river.

There is still a month to go until 16th June, by which time Gardo may well have killed another 50 or 100 springers, maybe more.

Mr Hindhaugh and the Berwick Harbour Commissioners are engaged in, and /or complicit in, deliberate conservation vandalism of the most blatant kind.

They are raking in the cash by killing increasing numbers of Tweed’s most vulnerable stock of salmon. They are the only people killing spring salmon in the UK, when nobody else thinks that is sustainable.

They must be very proud.

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By way of some light relief from all that, on Friday evening last week one of our German tenants caught 4 sea trout (3 x 3lbs and 1x 4lbs), all on a trout rod and No 14 dry fly.

What fun he must have had.

This may be a sign of a large sea trout run on the way.

Let’s hope so, for good fishing news has been hard to come by of late. There were also some signs of a few more salmon coming in, but nothing great, yet.

But the recent 1ft rise of water, earlier in the week, has fizzled out, another small rise is on its way today after Saturday’s rain, but that too will not last long. Forecasts show a heat wave for the end of the coming week. The river is pretty mucky after 2 months of drought, and all the 1ft rise did was rearrange the muck.

It needs a good flush out.

If the forecasters are right, we will have to wait a while yet for that.