For the fifth year running the River Tweed Commission have announced encouraging rod catches of salmon. Catch returns for the river for the 2007 season have now been collated and they confirm that anglers landed a total of 16,185 salmon – the highest rod catch on the River Tweed since continuous records began in 1952. Salmon rod catches have now averaged around 14,500 per annum in the five years since the reduction in the North-east drift-net fishery; this compares with an average rod catch of 9,500 for the previous ten year period (1993-2002).
Andrew Douglas-Home, chairman of the River Tweed Commission and the Tweed Foundation, commented: “The 2007 rod catch of 16,185 is right at the upper range of catches. The word ‘record’ is for statisticians and other sportsmen, not for river managers, and there is certainly no crowing on Tweed. Angling catches are of course a factor of luck, in terms of weather and water conditions, as well as diligence and skill, and we all know that nature is fickle. I might well be reporting disappointing figures for the 2008 season for no reason that we can now predict or subsequently determine”.
Mr Douglas-Home continued: “The general consensus is that in 2007 spring stocks were a little disappointing, summer stocks about average and that we do have a very large run of late summer and autumn grilse, which seem to be prevailing over the larger autumn multi-sea-winter fish, which are still there but apparently in fewer numbers as compared to the 1980s and early 1990s. It is relevant to emphasise that fishing effort now as compared to the immediate post-war decades may be a factor of two, three or four, not only as regards rod numbers but also hours spent on the river. It is for this reason, more than the vagaries of weather and water, that I would not want to draw too many conclusions about the 2007 rod catch when comparing it to other prolific years of the past”.
Andrew Wallace, managing director of the Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland (RAFTS) and the Association of Salmon Fishery Boards, said: “The announcement of the Tweed’s record salmon catch in 2007 is extremely encouraging news for Scottish salmon fisheries management and a clear demonstration that long-term, effective management can deliver results year on year, despite the challenges facing the Atlantic salmon, particularly the decline in marine survival”.
Mr Wallace added: “The Tweed is also wise to qualify this year’s success with comments about continuing concerns over early-running fish and also the impact of excellent conditions in much of the year which will almost certainly have resulted in a higher catches by anglers than normal. This emphasises, for all those involved in Scottish salmon management, the need to follow the Tweed's ‘steady as she goes policy’ of management and, with Tweed anglers releasing around 9,000 fish last year, underlines the importance of the massive voluntary contribution that is made by Scottish anglers each year to maintaining salmon stocks”.
Andrew Douglas-Home, chairman of the River Tweed Commission and the Tweed Foundation, commented: “The 2007 rod catch of 16,185 is right at the upper range of catches. The word ‘record’ is for statisticians and other sportsmen, not for river managers, and there is certainly no crowing on Tweed. Angling catches are of course a factor of luck, in terms of weather and water conditions, as well as diligence and skill, and we all know that nature is fickle. I might well be reporting disappointing figures for the 2008 season for no reason that we can now predict or subsequently determine”.
Mr Douglas-Home continued: “The general consensus is that in 2007 spring stocks were a little disappointing, summer stocks about average and that we do have a very large run of late summer and autumn grilse, which seem to be prevailing over the larger autumn multi-sea-winter fish, which are still there but apparently in fewer numbers as compared to the 1980s and early 1990s. It is relevant to emphasise that fishing effort now as compared to the immediate post-war decades may be a factor of two, three or four, not only as regards rod numbers but also hours spent on the river. It is for this reason, more than the vagaries of weather and water, that I would not want to draw too many conclusions about the 2007 rod catch when comparing it to other prolific years of the past”.
Andrew Wallace, managing director of the Rivers and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland (RAFTS) and the Association of Salmon Fishery Boards, said: “The announcement of the Tweed’s record salmon catch in 2007 is extremely encouraging news for Scottish salmon fisheries management and a clear demonstration that long-term, effective management can deliver results year on year, despite the challenges facing the Atlantic salmon, particularly the decline in marine survival”.
Mr Wallace added: “The Tweed is also wise to qualify this year’s success with comments about continuing concerns over early-running fish and also the impact of excellent conditions in much of the year which will almost certainly have resulted in a higher catches by anglers than normal. This emphasises, for all those involved in Scottish salmon management, the need to follow the Tweed's ‘steady as she goes policy’ of management and, with Tweed anglers releasing around 9,000 fish last year, underlines the importance of the massive voluntary contribution that is made by Scottish anglers each year to maintaining salmon stocks”.
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1) The full River Tweed Commission Annual Report & Accounts for 2007 on the Tweed will be available at www.rtc.org.uk after the Commission’s AGM on March 3rd 2008.
2) The 2007 rod catch was not evenly distributed throughout the river system – almost certainly due to water flows. Upper Tweed and Ettrick both had reduced catches despite there being good numbers of fish present. On Middle Tweed, Teviot and the Till catches were stable and roughly the same as both those of 2006 and the five year average. Beats from St Boswells to Ettrick junction generally had a better than average year whilst those below St Boswells had a lower catch. On Lower Tweed most beats, with only a few exceptions, had a much better than average year with three beats catching more than 1,000 fish each. Beats nearer the bottom of the river had an average or near average year. The spring catch of 2,051 (down approximately 10% to June 30) was associated with low water flows at that time. Thereafter summer flows were higher than usual but followed by a much drier autumn with no significant rainfall until the end of November which certainly favoured some lower beats which achieved very high catches.
3) Of the spring rod catch of 2,051 salmon, 1,401 (68%) were returned. This is 2% better than last year's return rate, despite the smaller catch. A further 8,409 fish (60%) were returned from July to the end of the season. Overall 61% of all fish were returned.
4) The River Tweed Commission is charged under The Scotland Act 1998 (River Tweed) Order 2006 with the general preservation and increase of salmon, sea trout and trout and other freshwater fish in the River Tweed and its tributaries.
5) The 2007 report, “Economic impact from angling in the Tweed river system”, concluded that it is worth just under £18 million annually to the Borders economy and directly supports 487 full-time jobs.
6) The Tweed is an exclusively wild fish fishery. There is no hatchery for fish of any kind and after 2008 there will be no stocking of any species to open waters (rivers). This has been the case for salmon for some decades now..