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The Scotsman
Wed 11 Feb 2004
Anglers on one Tweed beat caught 1,167 fish last year, compared with 242 in 2002.
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Tweed reels in its best catch ever

WILLIAM CHISHOLM

ANGLING experts say Scotland can now claim to have the best salmon river in the world, after posting record catches for 2003 when many rod fisheries appeared to be in terminal decline.

It had been thought that the 2002 rod catch of 10,300 salmon on Borders rivers - the best landings for a decade - would prove to be a one-off season. It bucked a downward trend elsewhere and gave the Tweed a reputation as the most productive salmon river in the entire North Atlantic system.

But last year’s total haul of 13,886 rod-caught salmon has shocked even the most optimistic fishery managers.

It is the best catch since records began in 1963 and is believed to be an all-time high for the Tweed.

Only last month there were gloomy forecasts for the future of game fishing in Scotland, at the opening of the salmon angling season on the River Tay.

According to the editor of one fishing magazine, Scotland was in danger of being left behind by exotic locations such as Russia and Iceland, where better management had created a thriving game fishing industry.

Now, the latest Tweed catches have seen that theory dismissed. The statistics for 2003 represent a 46 per cent increase over recent seasonal averages, and even the less prolific spring component of the catch outperformed expectations.

The River Tweed Commissioners (RTC), the body that manages the local fishery, believes the improved catches are due to positive management practices initiated by the Tweed Foundation 15 years ago.

There has been no artificial stocking of the river, a practice with which the RTC strongly disagrees. The commission says by making sure that river conditions are right, fisheries managers have enabled the wild fish to thrive and multiply.

The RTC’s conservation measures are now being used as a blueprint by many other fishery managers.

Anglers are supporting the measures on the Tweed by returning a significant number of caught salmon unharmed under so-called catch-and-release schemes, boosting the number of adult fish reaching the headwaters to spawn.

Andrew Wallace, the director of the Association of Salmon Fishery Boards, said: "We have been following Tweed’s progress with interest. It is a real success story, and shows what can be done at local level to enhance natural fish stocks.

"I really do believe the Tweed is probably now the best salmon river in the world. The Tweed management approach is being copied elsewhere, and quite rightly so.

"It is so pleasing to hear of success, rather than the continuing stories about the decline of Atlantic salmon stocks."

Almost £2 million has been invested in conservation measures during recent years to open up Borders spawning grounds by removing barriers to migratory salmon.

Habitats for the fish on the main river and several of its tributaries have also been enhanced.

John Lovett, the RTC chairman, said: "We are delighted with the improved rod catch, because the importance of the rod fishery cannot be overstated. It is the angling revenue that pays the bills and supports our local economy."

He said the willingness of fishery proprietors to commit huge resources to pay for the improvements represented "a huge act of faith".

"Over the last few years, many people have told us we would be better investing in artificial stocking measures, but they are wrong," said Mr Lovett. "The numbers speak for themselves."

Nick Yonge, the director of the Tweed Foundation, said it had completed one of the largest whole-river conservation programmes ever undertaken. He added: "Now all of the main channels of Tweed are open to migratory fish.

"There is little doubt our initiative to reduce exploitation by nets has played its part too. Reduced coastal and estuary netting, and now the substantial closure of the north-east [of England] drift-net fishery have helped a great deal."

The returns will mean the annual value of salmon fishing to the Borders economy will have to be revised upwards from the last estimate of £13million. But it is believed that proprietors will not use the record catches to inflate the price of fishing.

"What we are seeing is a natural, sustainable regeneration of Tweed stocks," said Mr Yonge.

"It is pay-back time for the very substantial investments and all of the hard work that has been done to enhance the entire river system in the last 15 years. A culture of conservation is also spreading through the Tweed fishing community."

There were some remarkable figures for a number of salmon beats on the Tweed’s lower reaches. One proprietor saw his annual catch increase from 242 in 2002 to 1,167 last year. Another beat recorded total landings of 705 fish in 2003, compared with 121 in 2002.

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