The voice of game-fishing since 1955
DECEMBER 11 WAS A SAD DAY FOR ATLANTIC salmon. The species in Great Britain has been reclassified as “Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
To appreciate the enormity of this announcement, consider that salmon in Great Britain have moved from the IUCN’s “Of Least Concern” list, skipped “Vulnerable” and moved straight to “Endangered,” a category shared with mountain gorillas and tigers.
IUCN has identified climate change, aquaculture, obstacles to migration, invasive species and freshwater pollution as the main causes of the severe decline in UK stocks over the past ten years. Its assessment, while deeply upsetting, vindicates those who have often bravely criticised the salmon farming industry and water companies.
The charity WildFish commissioned IUCN to reassess the status of Atlantic salmon stocks worldwide. Its chief executive, Nick Measham, explained, “The UK salmon population is in crisis thanks to the failures of our government and its regulators. We should be ashamed that our salmon population is faring worse than globally.” The Global classification of Atlantic salmon is “Near Threatened”; populations in Europe are “Vulnerable”.
Measham suggests the assessment is “long overdue” (the last was in 1996) and the outcome, although not unsurprising, is “very grim”. He demands governments “give regulators the mandate and resources to act urgently to save our Atlantic salmon and their rivers”.
Some anglers question the action taken by WildFish, worried about the consequences. Anglers have long felt like easy targets for regulation, despite having little effect on salmon stocks. Some 96% of rod-caught salmon are returned in England; 97% in Scotland and 100% in Wales.
We asked Scottish Government what action it will take to reverse the salmon’s decline. Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs Mairi Gougeo
