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Are warmer waters to blame for poor salmon fishing season?


By Gregor White

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The number of salmon and grilse entering the Ness significantly decreased in August
The number of salmon and grilse entering the Ness significantly decreased in August

A POOR end to the salmon fishing season around Inverness has been blamed on falling fish stocks.

Although yet to be finalised, initial 2016 catch returns for Inverness Angling Club suggest a drop of more than a third compared to 2015.

There has been speculation that rising sea temperatures are having an impact on salmon health by killing off their prey in the Arctic.

Angling club president Gordon Mackenzie said even as figures were being finalised, it was clear the season had not been "as good as it could have been".

While April and May were positive and a poor June was normal, as the first influx of fish begins to fall off, he said: "Into August, normally a good month, it became alarmingly clear that the number of salmon and grilse entering the Ness had significantly decreased, with a corresponding downturn in catches.

"September to the season's end continued in a similar vein, with a very small flurry of activity during the final few days of the season."

The club's figures for the past five years show a fluctuating picture, ranging from a high of 247 salmon and grilse caught in 2011 to just 125 in 2014.

If verified, this year's total of 155 would be the second worst across the period – and significantly down on the 239 caught last year.

Admitting he was not an expert on the possible causes for the fall-off, Mr Mackenzie added: "It does appear that salmon are not surviving very well in the marine environment.

"Their food prey, in the main, lives in the colder waters to the north-west and north-east of the British Isles, and that type of environment, the salmon feeding grounds, is being pushed further and further north, due apparently to rising sea temperatures.

"The theory is that most of the young salmon die after they leave their birth rivers and before reaching these areas. In other words, the gap between freshwater feeding and ocean feeding has become too great for most to survive the journey."

Director of Ness Salmon Fishery Board, Chris Conroy, was more positive however, describing the season as "more of an average year than a poor one".

Also still to confirm catch figures for the year, he said fewer catches did not necessarily mean lower stocks.

"The fishing pressure on the loch has reduced significantly in recent years – it used to be not uncommon to see 200 boats out on the water at times, now it's nothing like that.

"Clearly if you have fewer people fishing overall then the likelihood is they will catch less fish, and because of the relatively short length of the River Ness it may be that fish are running through there quite quickly before settling in the loch where there is less chance of them being caught."

Sean McLean, bailiff for the Findhorn District Salmon Fishery Board, agreed, saying: "Only a fool would try and predict what's going to happen year to year in terms of catches.

"There are so many factors that feed into whether you get high numbers or not that it's incredibly hard to predict, and certainly catch numbers alone don't always tell the full story about what is there in terms of actual stocks."


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