New salmon season opens on the River Tay after 'worst' year on record

Anglers marked the opening of the new salmon fishing season on the River Tay more in hope than expectation, after what is thought to have been the worst season on record in 2018.

The mood at the event at Meikleour in Perthshire on Tuesday was said to be “optimism mixed with realism” after a dramatic drop in the runs of wild salmon last year.

Rod and line catches in 2017 were put at 49,444 fish, a drop of 20 per cent on the five-year average and the fourth lowest figure on record.

Last year’s total, when nine out of 10 fish caught were returned to the water to help stocks, is expected to be even lower.

Iain McLaren, chairman of the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board, said the summer heatwave in 2018 created difficult fishing conditions, adding: "It is little comfort but most of Scotland's rivers, including the other members of the Big Four - the Tweed, Spey and Dee - are experiencing similar downturns."

Dr David Summers, director of the board, said: "There can be little doubt that problems at sea during the long migrations that our salmon undertake are the root cause of declining runs and catches.

"The board and our anglers, who continue to be highly responsible in conservation matters, are doing all we can to maintain and enhance stocks in freshwater.

"Obviously, we all hope that conditions at sea will improve and that this year we will see a return to a more normal pattern of weather and rainfall.”

The season was formally opened by the Perthshire adventurer Polly Murray, who in 2000 became the first Scottish woman to climb Everest.