Last year’s poor run of Grilse and a similar problem with MSW fish this year, logically would point to an in river problem with the particular year class of both sets of fish.
One thing for sure is the fact that the run of early fish on the river Spey has never been so poor!
Yes, never in living memory has this wonderful river had such a pathetic run of spring fish! ”I would give back teeth to fish the Spey on the 3rd week in May”, a statement I heard many times during my two and a half decades working on the river, I pity the poor people who struggled to chew their tough steak this May.
Was it worth loosing that final molar? With around 400 fish landed throughout the whole river I think not.
Even in a year of so much doom and gloom, the river can always find at least one story to keep everyone interested.
The Place was Delfur, the pool Two Stones, the fish, a lovely fresh 36 pounder caught by Mr Huston McCollouch and landed by Ghillie, Mr Grant Morrison.
This really was a specimen fish, which in all probability spent four winters at sea prior to entering the river for the first time.
After a very good fight the fish was landed and returned to hopefully spread its genes in the part of the river of its choice.
Although this was the latest in a string of large fish seen it the river during this year, I have heard many say, I would rather see four 9 pounders!
Well, it depends what floats your boat! But you know what they say, one swallow doesn’t make a summer!
There has been much talk of the weather and its effect on timing of the salmon run, with many people feeling that the river is around one month behind.
I would love to think this is indeed the case but past experience tell me something different.
The third huge flood since last autumn wreaked havoc, damaging so much after a rapid thaw of snow earlier in the year and many ghillies are understandably concerned about the impact of consecutive floods on, not only the river bank, but on the
well being of juvenile fish in the river, with many pointing out the fact that three floods of this scale is highly unusual and almost certainly will have a negative impact on this year-class of fish.
Time will tell but I don’t think things could be as bad as they are right now. Could they!?
Its now been proved that a Spey salmon does not only return to the Spey, but to a specific part of the river, breeding only with its very close relatives creating an “in bred” race of super fish with mating tendencies only for their brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles.
Yes, incest on a grand scale, I like the idea of fish with no teeth, playing banjo, very 21st Century!
It interested me greatly during May, to see a lack fresh water muscles making headline news, whilst the plight of salmon, a species worth so much to the Scottish economy, gets no media attention.
The lack of Salmon is obvious anyone involved, but not the media.
This is because of a concerted effort to keep them from finding the truth; and the truth is - wild salmon numbers throughout the UK have plummeted.
Once a nutritious food source for man, now, through lack of protection by man, what remains is a food source for predators only, their numbers have fell to a level where, during May, only one in 15 rods can now catch one on the Spey, whilst on the Dee they are talking about good numbers.
We are constantly told all the problems are at sea. Years of very expensive research has come to this conclusion!!
Do the Dee salmon go to a different sea?? Perhaps the SALSEA project will answer this, and then what?
The Dee has supported 100% catch and release for some time, around 5000 fish annually.
The Spey has proudly boasted figures around 70% for the past five or more years, one complete cycle of salmon, around 6000 fish annually, has it made a difference on the Dee? Most people would say yes, has it made a difference on the Spey?
Well, most would say no and certainly not this year!
So there we have it, yet another fishing contradiction. Another thing open to the 100 million debate.
No one can hide the facts and the facts are 5000 fish returned on the Dee seem to be making a difference, whilst a larger number on the Spey is making none what so ever.
Ghillies have came up with some interesting theory as to why this is happening.
Many Ghillies have talked about net marks [mono] on a high percentage salmon landed. Is this the case on the Dee?
Are there more Seals/Dolphins in the Moray Firth and in the North Sea?
Or, I liked this one, from a fishery manager who will remain nameless, “I think it modern tackle”, “we now cast our lines too far”!?
Mmm, are they using different tackle on the Dee?? The Dee has a better management policy?
Or could it be what Ghillies have told the board and its scientists for so many years now, there are just not enough adult to produce the abundance of juveniles to sea!
During the 3rd week of may the river Spey produced around 70 fish for roughly a 1000 rod days fishing, or one fish for every 15 anglers, a figure that can only be described as abysmal.
The fact of the matter is, as long the people involved in managing salmon fishing bury their head in the sand favouring PR scams over reality, we have no chance of convincing the media and politicians that in fact, even with greater numbers on the Dee, we have a serious problem.
The other main problem is the fact that most of these people are also from a social standing which is not well received in Scotland. Not that I personally have anything against this at all, in fact I hate it, but in Scotland, politically, they carry no weight at all and are generally out of touch with the desires of the greater public.
They are generally laughed at by Scottish politicians, all the glossy reports, all the “great and important work” totally pointless, because in reality, they are little more than toilet paper.
It would seem to me meetings held are nothing more than social events as no one seems to know how to promote positive change.
I saw this very clearly when the countryside alliance tried to mobilise people to march to protect fox hunting, a way of life which had existed for centuries.
Yes, a million people turned up, but the half a dozen anti’s won the day!
Why? Because in the wide scheme of things 1 million people was insignificant, the key, if only they realised, was not to convince politicians, but to convince the greater public, an action which through clever use of all types of media at the time, the anti’s had already done.
Whilst marching and throwing my weight behind what I saw as the thin edge of the wedge, I will always remember hearing “well it will probably be a waste of time, but at least we are doing something”!
Even at the time, I thought, my god, they’re just going through the motions, nothing will ever happen here, what is the point of this!?
Another reason for the above and I feel the present salmon issue, is contempt.
Yes disrespect for the thoughts, beliefs and opinions of other people by some of the people presently involved has also held up progress at a level needed to promote necessary change.
The facts are that 200,000 seals, 5000 Goosanders and an ever increasing number of Cormorants are eating their way through the remainder of one of Scotland’s most iconic creatures.
They are not afforded enough protection from man at Sea.
There are three ways to tackle this decline –
A. To lobby government to actually do something physical about the known and obvious threat to salmon through predation.
B. Counteract this threat by using methods known to boost the river’s output of smolts.
C. Or, as they have on other river’s, talk a good line get the PR machine working, button down the hatches and hope for the best. Be content with what we have rather than what should be.
Only one of the above is an easy task. But if we look at the first one – As seen with the countryside march, tackling this head on will prove futile and a complete waste of resources.
The only way forward is to make the public aware of pending loss of this iconic creature, get them and the media behind it. People get used to resolving problems in a way in which they have learned and know to work.
Lobbying politicians only works if –
1. You speak the same language. Or
2. You have public support.
With regard to salmon in Scotland the first is a non starter as none of the people involved in salmon fisheries management talk the same language as Scottish politicians.
So we must focus on the second, and if we wish to go down that route we must have a radical re-think of how this will be achieved.
Unfortunately the people involved being so out of touch with the people they must convince, in all probability, means they will compromise this right from the start.
So, for me, with present people involved, this is a non starter. The only option they have is set out in “C” above.
The other and most viable option is to ensure the river produces an excess of smolts to offset the huge losses at sea.
Unfortunately, even at experimental level, this is being compromised by the people presently involved in running our rivers.
At a time when runs of wild salmon have never been so weak, our rivers are close to becoming commercially extinct, at a time where rural communities across the north of Scotland are under threat from losing their annual windfall of around 15 million pounds brought to them by salmon, at a time where a way of life [Ghillieing] is coming to an end, all we hear is – We need more research.
This nonsense is strangling our communities and through lack of action, is killing our way of life in favour of data collection.
We are told that the river needs very little fish to produce enough smolts to sea. In my opinion fewer fish means further concentration of the gene pool, which OK, if you believe in the narrow “Family” gene pool, is fine, but I do not happen to be one of those as nowhere else in nature does this happen.
The facts are we need a drastic change in how we approach salmon fishing in Scotland there are very few options but burying ones head in the proverbial, just as it did for the countryside alliance, will not achieve a result.
The clock is ticking, time is running out for Salmo Salar, and unless physical action is taken then one fish in every 20 rod days will be the norm, that’s one fish for every 3 weeks fishing.
That is reality at the moment and for owners who think people will pay top dollar for that, think again!!
As they have elsewhere, people will vote with their feet. In this respect, fishery owners, managers, have a duty, not only to their workers, but to the wider community, a community who in the near future will judge them on their actions.
Ian Gordon
Speycaster
