Value of angling to Scottish economy

Scotland is recognised across the world as a key destination for salmon and freshwater fishing.

Game and coarse angling is worth more than £100 million to the Scottish economy and supports almost 3,000 jobs.

In order to support that it is vital to maintain and enhance the quality of rivers and fish stocks.

The managers of waterways such as the Tay and the Esk in Angus carefully monitor the quality of the water, riverbanks and fish numbers.

Every minute change is recorded, the numbers of fish at every beat pored over to ensure that the pastime remains profitable.

In recent years many angling rivers have encouraged “catch and release” in an effort to protect fragile fish stocks.

At the beginning of the 2015 season, anglers taking to the River Tay were for the first time required by law to return any catches to the river in an effort to protect fragile fish stocks.

The move was welcomed by the Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board, though Tay anglers already enjoyed a reputation for working to help preserve salmon numbers.

The vast majority already adhered to the Tay Conservation Code, which since 2010 has resulted in more than 90% of the salmon caught before April released back into the water.

A steady increase in spring salmon numbers and catches is seen as evidence of the success of such conservation measures and its hoped the new legislation will help to change the practices of any hold-outs.

Those efforts will ensure that the Tay and other salmon rivers continue to attract anglers from around the world and retain their prestige.

That will be vital to both the economy and the rural jobs market, though the evidence of the latest season suggests that the industry remains at the whim of wider global events.