Scottish anglers could be banned from killing and eating salmon
Fishermen could be banned from killing and eating any wild salmon caught in Scotland under radical new conservation plans.
About 20,000 salmon are caught and kept on Scotland’s rivers every year, but with fewer and fewer fish making it back to their home rivers to spawn, a group of ghillies, fishing guides and international experts believe radical action is needed to save both the species and the sport.
Orri Vigfusson from Iceland, a leading international expert on salmon conservation, believes the move is needed to protect Scotland’s dwindling salmon stocks.
Mr Vigfusson, founder of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund, a body set up to protect wild salmon stocks, said something drastic had to be done.
A petition calling for the catch-and-release policy has gone live on the website change.org and will be presented to the Scottish Parliament in the next few days.
It was drawn up by Jock Monteith, a long-time ghillie and fishing guide on some of Scotland’s best salmon rivers.
He said the plan would represent “a major step forward for the future of wild Scottish salmon stocks”, the Telegraph reports.
According to the newspaper, the Scottish Government said it would consider the catch-and-release plan as part of the ongoing review of wild fisheries.
