Salmon and sea trout fishing

Salmon and sea trout fishery statistics are based on annual returns from proprietors, occupiers or agents of fisheries throughout Scotland and have been collected annually since 1952. These data are derived from approximately 2,000 forms issued each year. Catch data are collected from 109 Districts. Districts correspond either to a single river catchment together with the adjacent coast or to groups of neighbouring river catchments and their associated coastline.

Over the past 10 years return rates of forms have been around 93%. These statistics are part of a time series which began in 1952 and are collected and collated by Marine Scotland as Official Government Statistics, subject to a quality assurance process before being published (Scottish Government, 2019b). Districts can also be combined into Scottish Marine Regions (SMRs).

Salmon and sea trout fisheries fall into one of three broad categories:

• Fixed engine fisheries are restricted to the coast and must be set outside estuary limits. Bag-nets, stake nets and jumper nets are different forms of fishing gear used across Scottish fisheries, with poke nets and haaf nets restricted to the Solway Firth area. Since 2016 removal of salmon from coastal nets has been prohibited, covering all fixed engines except the Solway haaf nets.
• Net and coble fisheries generally operate in estuaries and the lower reaches of rivers. Since 2016 these fisheries may only take salmon where river stocks have been shown to be in good conservation status.
• Rod and line fisheries comprise angling activities which generally take place within rivers and above tidal limits. This method currently accounts for the majority of salmon and sea trout catches. Since 2016 rod fisheries have only been allowed to retain salmon on rivers that have shown to be in good conservation status. In all other rivers rod caught salmon must be released.

In response to concerns over stock levels coastal netting is currently prohibited and the netted catch of salmon from the sea is therefore zero. Rod catches, and the remaining net catches, provide information on the economic benefit from rivers flowing into these regions but cannot be used to infer anything about salmon stocks within the sea or Scottish Marine Region (SMR) itself.

Salmon

Since the 2011 Assessment there have been a number of measures which have had an impact on salmon catches. In 2016 statutory conservation measures were introduced to prohibit the removal of salmon from coastal waters and on stocks with poor conservation status (Scottish Government, 2019c). Locations of stocks estimated to be in poor conservation status are spread throughout the country.

Net fisheries

Reported catches from fixed engine and net and coble fisheries have declined over much of the period since records began in 1952 and are at historically low levels (Figure 2). Since 2016 retaining salmon caught in coastal waters has been prohibited. The 2016 regulations also prevented net and coble fisheries operating where salmon stocks were in poor conservation status. The decline in effort (Figure a) is due to a number of factors. These include economic competition due to the availability of farmed salmon; a decline in wild salmon stocks, particularly in the spring months leading to lower catches and therefore profits; the rights to netting stations being bought and not fished by wild fish interests and regulations curtailing the fishing season due to concerns about salmon stocks.

Figure a: Effort data for the fixed engine and net and coble fisheries in Scotland 1952 to 2018. Source: Marine Scotland

Rod fisheries

Annual catches for the rod fisheries have declined steeply since the highest recorded level in 2010 (Figure 3). The catch in 2018 was the lowest recorded being one third of the 2010 figure, and two thirds of the previous 5-year average. Although the scale of the decline in 2018 was undoubtedly influenced to some extent by drought conditions in many rivers, the pattern was mirrored in other countries (ICES, 2019), highlighting that low catches in 2018 reflect continuation of a real decline in salmon numbers.

Sea Trout

Net fisheries

Reported catch and effort in both fixed engine and net and coble fisheries have declined over much of the period covered by Marine Scotland’s records and remain at low levels (Figures 4 & a). In 2018, reported catch and effort for both the fixed engine and net & coble fisheries were the lowest recorded by either fishery since records began in 1952.

Rod fisheries

Total rod catches of sea trout for Scotland as a whole have declined over much of the period since 1952, when records began. The total reported rod catch of 13,692 in 2018 was the lowest in the time series and 69% of the previous 5-year average (Figure 5).

The recent trends in the number of salmon and sea trout caught by nets in the sea and estuaries show a clear decline with recent catches at their lowest levels since 1952. This decline has been ongoing for a number of years and is the product of a number of factors. Since 2016 these declines have been heavily influenced by the prohibition in removing salmon by offshore nets and by estuarine nets in areas where the status of salmon stocks is poor, for example parts of the Moray Firth SMR.

From an economic point of view the value of salmon and sea trout fishing in the sea has clearly declined in recent years. This is also the case for rod fisheries in the rivers flowing into Scottish coastal waters. The trends seen in rod fisheries are different to those shown by the nets, but for salmon have shown a decline in the years since the last assessment, going from the highest catches since 1952 in 2010 to the lowest in 2018. Catches of sea trout are also at the lowest over the time series.

Catches from the fishery districts can be amalgamated to replicate the SMRs. See figures b to s below. The Shetland and Orkney SMRs do not have associated catches.

Figure b: Reported catches of salmon from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Forth and Tay SMR 1952 to 2018.

Figure c: Reported catches of sea trout from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Forth and Tay SMR 1952 to 2018.

 

Figure d: Reported catches of salmon from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the North East SMR 1952 to 2018.

Figure e: Reported catches of sea trout from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the North East SMR 1952 to 2018.

 

Figure f: Reported catches of salmon from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Moray Firth SMR 1952 to 2018.

Figure g: Reported catches of sea trout from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Moray Firth SMR 1952 to 2018.

 

Figure h: Reported catches of salmon from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the North Coast SMR 1952 to 2018.

Figure i: Reported catches of sea trout from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the North Coast SMR 1952 to 2018.

 

Figure j: Reported catches of salmon from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Outer Hebrides SMR 1952 to 2018.

Figure k: Reported catches of sea trout from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Outer Hebrides SMR 1952 to 2018.

 

Figure l: Reported catches of salmon from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the West Highland SMR 1952 to 2018.

Figure m: Reported catches of sea trout from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the West Highland SMR 1952 to 2018.

 

Figure n: Reported catches of salmon from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Argyll SMR 1952 to 2018.

Figure o: Reported catches of sea trout from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Argyll SMR 1952 to 2018.

 

Figure p: Reported catches of salmon from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Clyde SMR 1952 to 2018.

Figure q: Reported catches of sea trout from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Clyde SMR 1952 to 2018.

Figure r: Reported catches of salmon from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Solway SMR 1952 to 2018.

Figure s: Reported catches of sea trout from the fixed engine, net and coble and rod fisheries in the Solway SMR 1952 to 2018.

Source: Marine Scotland. Salmon and Sea Trout fishery statistics: 2018 Season - reported catch and effort by method. DOI: 10.4789/12206-1.

The catch data are based on survey results which do not have complete coverage (approximately 93% of catch forms are returned). Efforts have been made to increase the return rates, although the already high return rate supports the robustness of the observed trends.

All catches (rod, nets and fixed engine) can be ascribed to a catch location and so to an SMR. This, of course, does not reflect the stock for that SMR because individual salmon, and to a lesser extent sea trout, will pass through a number of regions during their migrations in the sea.

In addition to the annual salmon and sea trout fishery statistics the Scottish Marine and Recreation Tourism Survey (SMRTS) (Scottish Government, 2016) report gathered spatial data from over 2,500 respondents and improved awareness of what takes place where. SMARTS included sections on sea angling from a boat and from the shore which covers species in addition to salmon and sea trout and for which official catch statistics are not collected. Figure t shows the percentage of sea angling from the shore in each SMR, compared with the percentage of all recreation and tourist activities in the SMR. Solway, Clyde and Forth and Tay SMRs all account for over 20% each of sea angling from the shore. Around 20% of sea angling from a boat happens in each of Solway, Clyde and Argyll, with West Highland and Forth and Tay accounting for over 10% each. Figure u shows the percentage of sea angling from a private or chartered boat by SMR on the same basis.

Figure t: Distribution of sea angling from the shore by SMR – percentage compared to all leisure activities. Source: Scottish Marine Recreation and Tourism Survey 2015 (Scottish Government, 2016). Source: Marine Scotland

Figure u: Distribution of sea angling from a private or chartered boat by SMR – percentage compared to all leisure activities. Source: Scottish Marine Recreation and Tourism Survey 2015. (Scottish Government, 2016).

Figure v shows the SMRTS survey results for density of sea angling from the shore blended with results for sea angling from a private or chartered boat. Whereas the map is helpful to identify some busy areas, the study acknowledges that ‘survey design and method for data collection means the survey results are not representative of all marine recreation and tourism activities in Scotland, particularly in more remote areas, and information on activities with fewer participants is not to be taken as an indication that no activity takes place’.

Figure v: Sea angling from a private or chartered boat and from the shore which may / may not include salmon / sea trout fishing (with Scottish Marine Regions). Source: Scottish Marine Recreation and Tourism Survey 2015 (Scottish Government (2016)).

Based on two blended MS Maps NMPI layers (i) Sea angling from shore; and (ii) Sea angling from a private or chartered boat.