Catches of untamed Scottish salmon at lowest degree ever
- Over 11,000 fewer wild salmon have been caught in Scottish waters in 2023
Catch figures for wild Scottish salmon have plummeted to their lowest-ever degree.
The dramatic decline has sparked concern for each the agricultural financial system and the state of Scotland’s rivers.
Provisional catch statistics for wild salmon in 2023 present that Scottish fisheries caught 33,023 fish final 12 months – a staggering 25 per cent discount when in comparison with 2022.
In whole, the Scottish Government figures imply that 11,139 fewer wild salmon have been caught in Scottish waters in 2023.
Posting on-line on International Day of Action for Rivers, the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT) stated: ‘We’re going through a wake-up name. Salmon usually are not simply fish; they’re an important indicator of the well being of our rivers and their wrestle is essentially impacted by the degradation of our river woodlands which give cool, clear water.’
Catch figures for wild Scottish salmon are at their lowest degree ever, with 25% much less fish caught by fisheries in 2023 than in 2022
A current evaluation of untamed Atlantic salmon by the International Union for Conservation of Nature discovered that it was endangered in a lot of Britain
The SWT stated Robbie Douglas-Miller, parliamentary underneath secretary on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, put it ‘completely’ in saying: ‘If you have bought it proper for salmon, you have bought it proper on your entire ecosystem as a result of they’re the bellwether. They are the canary within the coal mine.’
While the figures could also be topic to vary when closing outcomes are revealed later this 12 months, conservationists say ‘way more’ must be finished to guard wild salmon.
Dr Alan Wells, of Fisheries Management Scotland, stated: ‘These new statistics present extra proof of the perilous state of Scotland’s treasured migratory fish populations.’
He referred to as for restoration of rivers by schemes such because the SWT-led Riverwoods initiative. It is supported by charities, organisations and authorities companies, and works in the direction of ecosystem restoration by the restoration and creation of river woodlands.
The Scottish Government was contacted for remark.
