![]() ![]() Keeping fish wet and minimising handling gives fish the best chance for a safe return to the water. The guide’s primary purpose is to provide practical advice and guidance to anglers to maximise the survival of salmon which anglers choose to release for conservation purposes. Scotland’s wild fisheries organisations have combined with their counterparts south of the border to produce an angler’s guide on Catch and Release for Salmon. In recent years catch and release has been placed on a mandatory basis during the spring, and in all rivers designated by Scottish Ministers as grade three based on the conservation status of their stocks. However, the longer a fish is out of water, or poorly handled, the less chance it has of survival. Numerous angling and radio-tracking studies have demonstrated high survival rates and successful spawning for salmon released after capture – up to 100% under certain conditions. The proportion of the rod catch accounted for by catch and release has increased dramatically since 1994, when such information was first recorded in Scotland. However, the simplest means for anglers and ghillies to make a positive and significant contribution to increasing fish populations is through catch and release. District Salmon Fishery Boards and Fishery Trusts are involved in a number of means of increasing salmon and sea trout populations including habitat maintenance and enhancement, mitigation of diffuse pollution, removal of in-stream barriers to migration, removal of invasive non-native species and stocking programmes. ![]()
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