I was reading a letters page in on of the fishing magazines recently where a lady was being lamented for taking a salmon from a clubs water. Despite being allowed to take the fish, both readers and other club members were making their disapproval quite clear. I feel very uneasy about this attitude amongst some game anglers and clubs that catch and release occupies the moral high ground. If the salmon stocks in the river are so fragile that anglers cannot harvest a few fish for the pot it begs the question - should anyone be fishing in that river at all?
All country pursuits when animals are taken for food require a natural or stocked surplus in order for a healthy population to be maintained. In grouse shooting the moorland is managed by the keeper and through a process of medicated grit, heather burning and predator control a large, healthy natural surplus of grouse can be produced year after year. Pheasant shoots introduce reared birds in to the wild to provide a large surplus and in our rivers we can manage effectively and stock if required to produce a good head of wild and stocked trout.
As game anglers we have a long tradition of taking a fish for the table but this must only be done where a natural surplus exists. The salmon (through no fault of game anglers) is encountering problems caused by netting, fish farms and river passes being blocked amongst many other issues. These issues must be dealt with and anglers must press the relevant bodies for these problems to be addressed. In rivers where the salmon run is very low, catching and releasing salmon is going to do them no favours and in these cases would it be better not to fish for the salmon at all until the wider issues with the salmon numbers are dealt with?
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