One of Scotland’s oldest traditional industries is the focus of a new book to be published by an Edinburgh-born photographer.
Colin McPherson has worked on commissions and assignments for many of the world’s top newspapers and magazines internationally over the last 35 years.
But when he was not away covering major events and stories, he would head to the coast to document the work of Scotland’s last salmon net fishermen, recording a way of life that has almost passed into history.
Catching wild Atlantic salmon and sea trout using traditional nets and traps on Scotland’s beaches, estuaries and rivers has been practiced for centuries. Beginning in the 19th century, Parliament brought into law regulations around where and when fishing could take place.
This led to the creation of a flourishing industry that exported the “king of fish” to customers in England and abroad, hungry for a taste of one of Scotland’s most famous exports.
Almost every coastal community had a salmon fishery, including on the River Forth and in East Lothian. This trend continued until the 1980s when a mix of economic and environmental factors sent salmon net fishing into decline.
McPherson began photographing men working on the nets at places such as St. Cyrus in Aberdeenshire and Strathy in Sutherland. He has travelled thousands of miles over the last 30 years in a bid to photograph as much of what remains of this ancient practice.
Over the years, images from the project, titled Catching the Tide, have been published worldwide, exhibited and collected by prestigious archives such as the University of St Andrews Library and the National Galleries of Scotland, who have acknowledged the importance of McPherson’s unique collection of photographs.
McPherson said: “The times I spend photographing salmon net fishing in Scotland are amongst the happiest of my life. To go out with the fishermen in their cobles – flat-bottom boats which they use to fish bag nets in shallow waters – or to watch them skillfully fishing sweep nets on a river make you feel like you are stepping back in time.
“The methods they employ and the knowledge they have go back generations and have been handed down through families. Although it is sad to think that salmon fishing has all but disappeared, I am just thankful I took the opportunity to document it so we can look back and understand what life was like as a salmon netter.”
To celebrate the thirtieth year of the project, McPherson is bringing out a book with Dewi Lewis Publishing which chronicles his journey over the last three decades and his collaboration with the fisherfolk.
Catching the Tide – Salmon Net Fishing in Scotland will contain 100 black-and-white photographs from the project alongside a short history of the subject by Fiona Halliday. It will be published in June and have a RRP of £40.
More information about McPherson’s Catching the Tide project and details of the Kickstarter crowdfunder which is running to support the book’s publication can be found here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/catching-the-tide/catching-the-tide
