Posted on December 07, 2023
It does not make for happy, or surprising reading, especially for salmon. Sea trout stocks are also showing a worrying declining trend.
The Missing Salmon Alliance is a group of conservation organisations fighting to reverse the trend of declining salmon populations.
Lots of data available on this web page. These are just a few high/low lights:
In England, 36 of 42 principal salmon rivers were assessed as being ‘at risk’ or ‘probably at risk’. Only one was categorised as ‘not at risk’
In Wales, all 22 principal salmon rivers were assessed as being ‘at risk’ or ‘probably at risk’. None were categorised as ‘not at risk’.
We have highlighted to the EA that the data for sea trout river conservation status is not included on their web page, however we do have the following information from NRW for rivers in Wales:
There are 33 main sea trout rivers in Wales.
• 79%, 26 sea trout rivers in Wales are now categorised as being “At Risk”,
• 15%, 5 rivers “Probably at Risk”.
• 3% 1 river Probably Not at Risk.
• 3% 1 river was categorised as “Not at Risk”
These are the catches to rods based on catch returns by anglers:
6,388 salmon were caught, an increase of 10% compared with 2021 (5,815), but a 33% decrease when compared with the 5‑year mean (9,580).
10,111 sea trout were caught, a decrease of 19% compared with 2021 (12,533) and a 43% decrease when compared with the 5‑year mean (17,777).
Sales of rod licences for salmon and sea trout (the ‘full’ or ‘migratory’ licence) are declining. 21,874 licences were issued in 2022, down 6% compared with 2021. This is a 27% decrease when compared with the 5‑year mean (30,004).
Catch-and-release rates for rod caught salmon (96%) and sea trout (89%) showed an increase of 1% for both salmon and sea trout when compared with 2021.
The River Tyne had the highest declared rod catch of salmon (2,073). This accounted for 32% of the total for England and Wales. Next were the Wear (636), Eden (407) and Coquet (385).
The River Tyne had the highest declared rod catch of sea trout (1,177). This accounted for 12% of the total for England and Wales. Next were the Teifi (728), Tywi/Towy (670) and Border Esk (594).
