Gloom over reported decline in salmon may be misplaced

and its future.

Though early reports indicate good catches on most Scottish rivers,

there is a general feeling that the runs cannot be compared to those of

yesteryear. And one of the greatest salmon rivers, the Dee, has been

declared to be in a state of crisis.

A recent report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food

acknowledged the decline of the highly prized spring salmon in the past

30 years. It recommended action to protect and restore the stock.

The latest figures from the Scottish Office show a 10% decrease from

1992 to 1993 in the number of salmon caught in Scotland. Almost half --

79,500 out of 166,200 -- were taken by rod and line, and most of the

1992-93 decline was due to a 27% decrease in catches by nets.

However, annual figures available from 1952 for the whole of Scotland

(see graph), show that catches by rod and line have actually increased

from 41,100 in 1952, to 79,500 in 1993, despite yearly fluctuations.

The apparent decline since 1967 (all-time record with 604,690 salmon

caught) is due to the closure of many commercial fisheries. More

meaningfully, a comparison of rod and line catches for 1967 and last

year reveals a small increase.

Statistics may also be misleading because they fail to reflect the

relative intensity of the fishing effort, and give only a rough idea of

the real number of fish in the rivers.

Dr Dick Shelton, head of the Government's Freshwater Fisheries

Laboratory in Pitlochry, said of the spring run that ''the availability

is less than it used to be'', but added that ''nothing says there is a

real problem''.

Various conservation measures have been taken. Anglers and proprietors

have bought out the nets on their rivers. Anglers have sometimes been

urged to practise ''catch-and-release'', which has been effective in

North America and Iceland, and was recommended recently by the Dee

District Salmon Fishery Board. The Tweed Foundation has advised its

members to spare pregnant fish.

The Northumberland and Yorkshire drift-net fisheries prevent tens of

thousands of Scottish-bound salmon from spawning. Drift-netting has been

banned by all European governments except the UK and Ireland -- it was

banned in Scotland in 1962, after the migration routes of salmon were

established.

The National Rivers Authority in England and Wales are to phase it

out, by not issuing any new licences, over 30 years.

More immediate steps have been taken by Mr Orri Vigfussonn, an

Icelander, who since 1991 has achieved the closure of commercial

fisheries in feeding grounds off Greenland and Faroe, buying out leases

with cash raised through his North Atlantic Salmon Fund. The closure of

these high-seas fisheries, the only ones in the North Atlantic since

salmon fishing is illegal outside territorial waters, should spare

200,000 fish a year.

The UK will benefit by 20,000 extra salmon but will have to pay its

share of the buy-out, estimated at #180,000 a year. The bill is #146,000

for Scotland.

Such methods are expensive. Scientists suggest that more attention

should be given to such factors as pollution and changes in land use.

Changes in agricultural drainage have made the level of stream-water

more variable. More rapid variations erode the river-bed. Silt-water

affects the spawning ground and feeding areas of young salmon and trout

and may prompt gill-

related infections.

In areas suffering from acid rain, such as Galloway, rapid drainage

means that rainwater does not remain in the soil to become neutralised.

Afforestation also accelerates drainage. Spruce plantations enhance

the streams' acidity by collecting the acid rain and by the

decomposition of their needles in the ground.

Mr Ron Harriman, scientific officer at Pitlochry, is cautious,

however: ''There is no evidence that the decline of fish matches

environmental factors such as acidity.''

Dr Colin Adams, of Glasgow University's biology department, is also

careful about using the word ''decline'', and suggests that the nineties

should not be compared to the mid-sixties and seventies, when commercial

fishing boomed, but rather to the overall period for which data can be

provided. He believes that the long-term impact of environmental changes

may be under-estimated.

Leisure development, for example Loch Lomond with its speedboats and

jet skis, adds to other pressures. Paradoxically, anglers are also to be

blamed for what appears to be a new plague in Loch Lomond and a threat

to salmon as well as other species in other Scottish lochs.

In the past 10 years, five species of fish have been accidently

introduced into the loch by English coarse anglers who used them as bait

for fishing and then dumped the surviving ones in the water.

Experiments by Dr Adams at the Rowardennan field station suggest that

dace, the latest of those intruders, compete with salmon for food. He

sees the threat as a serious one, and not only for salmon populations.

In short, there is little scientific evidence that the salmon is under

real threat. One thing is sure: Scottish anglers should feel privileged

compared to their continental counterparts. The French Minister of the

Environment, for example, has forbidden salmon rod-fishing for 1994 on

the Loire and its tributary the Allier, which are among the best salmon

rivers in the country.

Bertrand Charron, a student of bi-lingual journalism at the University

of the New-Sorbonne in Paris, is on attachment to The Herald.