By Arnot McWhinnie 

A POPULAR salmon beat has closed its banks to anglers because there are not enough fish to catch.

The Doonfoot stretch of the River Doon had previously attracted anglers from across the UK.

Two decades ago, almost 1,000 salmon were landed from the 1¾ mile stretch that runs under the Brig o’ Doon at Alloway, made famous by Robert Burns in his poem Tam O’ Shanter.

But anglers tempted just 27 from the beat in 2015, and this year, with the season almost finished, catches are not expected to fare much better.

Businessman David Cosh, who bought Doonfoot 20 years ago, has now written to his anglers to tell them he is closing the beat down.

Mr Cosh claims he is witnessing the extinction of wild salmon and blames the “unregulated” growth of salmon farms.

He has also hit out at the Scottish Government’s failure to provide legislation to force the owners of salmon farms to control sea lice, which eat the young fish to death, and prevent escapees breeding with wild fish.

Mr Cosh said: “I hold every Scottish Fisheries Minister over the years of the Scottish Parliament personally responsible for the dramatic decline of wild salmon stocks.

“The clear-to-see cause, supported by countless evidence-based reports, is the unregulated growth of salmon farms that are set up with very little monitoring.”

Mr Cosh claims wild salmon has become an endangered species on the west coast of Scotland.

He added: “Many rivers are still being fished, but on a total catch and release basis.”

A Government spokesman said fluctuations in wild fish populations are “multi factorial” and there is no direct correlation between the number of sea farms and the number of wild salmon.

The spokesman added: “The Government has taken considerable steps to protect wild salmon, implementing a comprehensive regulatory framework that strikes a balance between the need to maintain a sustainable aquaculture sector and protect the wider marine environment.

“Measures are in place to protect Scotland’s largest salmon river catchments on the north and east coasts, which account for over 80 per cent of Scotland’s wild caught salmon, with further protections on the west coast through four Special Areas of Conservation.

“In addition and in parallel with the annual assessment of conservation status of wild salmon across Scotland, we are introducing a salmon conservation plan to provide national understanding and evidence of conservation factors.

“The Scottish Technical Standard published in June 2015 will ensure all finfish farms have equipment that is appropriate for the site conditions to prevent escapes by 2020 at the latest.