Letters

RESTOCKING DEBATE

I read with interest the article by John Bailey regarding restocking our salmon rivers [Comment, May issue]. He makes a very seductive argument.

Like Mr Bailey, I fish the four corners of the UK, in the main chasing what has become the elusive salmon. I also fish in Iceland and on the Kola. Whilst I thoroughly enjoy my visits to Spey, Tay, Wye, etc, catching the odd fish, my visits overseas are much more productive.

However, as Mr Bailey implies the sorry state of our salmon stocks is not simply the result of the decline in restocking. The demise of our salmon and sea-trout runs is much more complex. There’s the negative impact of fish farming and the drastic decline in recent years of smolts returning to our rivers as grilse or salmon. Is this due to predation or something more sinister? Pollution continues to have an impact, too, with slurry run-offs and a higher level of farming