Salmon fishing fears detailed in new book

Just arrived is a new book by Drew Jamieson who has researched, followed and commented on the management and conservation of salmon for the past 50 years.

Where the wild salmon run is a fascinating insight into the life of the salmon and Jamieson revealed that in Scotland the angling catch in 2018 was the lowest since records began in 1952.

In his forward, Jamieson said: “The causes of this situation are multiple and complex. Some problems are at sea. Some problems are around our coasts. Some are in the freshwater phase of the salmon’s life cycle. Some of the problems are more controllable than others. 

“Above all is the overarching challenge of climate change.”

He looks back at the history of salmon fishing and mentions several town waters plus Loch Lomond in the book along with a brief look at salmon on a shoestring and he said that not every river is famed for its back-end fishing.

Jamieson argued that the cyclical shift in the salmon migrations has swung positively in favour of an autumn return to the rivers. The spring run in recent years has been rather sparce.