How many know it is illegal to buy or sell a salmon caught by a rod, whether it is held by a poacher or a law abiding angler?

Now a campaign against such fishy deals is being launched by the Ness District Salmon Fishery Board. It manages the Ness system's catchment which covers some 700 square miles and drains east and north through the Great Glen and Loch Ness into the sea at Inverness.

"We're starting a publicity campaign, in liaison with Police Scotland, to let people know that the buyers, as well as sellers, of illegal salmon could be guilty of an offence", said the board's director Chris Conroy.

A new advisory leaflet raising awareness of the law relating to the sale and possession of wild salmon and sea trout is being distributed to anglers, food outlets, hotels, restaurants and fish sellers in Inverness and throughout the Ness District catchment area.

Mr Conroy added: "Only farmed salmon or those caught in legal net fisheries can be sold in Scotland. It is completely illegal to sell any rod caught salmon, whether by the angler themselves or a third parties such as restaurants or fishmongers. The law applies to portions as well as entire fish."

But he said the board had also stepped up its anti-poaching patrols to try to catch offenders before they can sell illegal fish.