2 March 2014 News/Editorial
Two things to note this week.
First, the Tweed rod catch for 2013 was 14,794 salmon, the fifth highest on record. Of these just 3,684 (25%) were killed. The nets caught (and killed) 5,522. I will (just) refrain from further comment here about who pays what to the River Tweed Commission based on the number of fish killed!
For the rods, spring was average, summer poor (because of the drought), as was the early autumn until the total catch was saved, after late October floods, by a benign and dry November, over 4,500 being one of the best ever, although nothing like 2010 when nearly 6,000 were caught in November.
Just as the rods suffered in the dry and hot summer, so the nets benefited as salmon and grilse struggled to move upstream, moving in and out on the tide for the in-river nets, and milling around offshore for the coastal nets.
It would be surprising if the remaining 13 north east drift netters did not also do very well once the 2013 figures are eventually reported by the Environment Agency.
So, it was a middling to good year in the great scheme of things, even if the middle beats will not agree with that; the cold spring meant the springers never got there, the dry summer and early autumn kept the fish further downstream, and then a few floods at the end of October saw the fish rush through to Galashiels and beyond.
Yet again, this 2013 rod catch far exceeds that of any other river; there should be no smugness in this; it requires hard work from the Tweed Foundation and Tweed Commission, attention to detail, getting the basics right and being ever vigilant, backed by the correct and (in terms of other rivers) pretty generous funding from proprietors. There is no room whatever for complacency.
The second point of note is the River Tweed Commission AGM tomorrow 3rd March 9.30 am, Cross Keys Hotel, Kelso, the first to which the public is invited. The Commission with 83 commissioners is already by far the most representative river board in Scotland, a fact now given further emphasis by allowing the public to attend and ask questions.
Tweed is always in a slightly odd position so far as general Scottish salmon fisheries legislation is concerned, because our cross territory status and bespoke legislation makes us different. Nevertheless, Tweed has always tried to keep up with or indeed be ahead of management practices elsewhere. Other River Boards in Scotland have never been as represented and open as us, they are now changing and it would be foolish if we did not continue to keep pace with and replicate what they are now doing.
I wish Douglas Dobie, RTC chairman, all the best for tomorrow morning. After the AGM, he has a quarterly Commission meeting followed by a Tweed Proprietors AGM.
A drink at lunchtime will be well deserved.
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