On 11th March, it is planned that anglers from across Scotland will gather at the Scottish Parliament as the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee meets Cabinet Secretary, Mairi Gougeon.
This will mark the first time in modern history that organised angling interests have assembled at Holyrood to publicly express concern over the decline of wild Atlantic salmon.
Wild Atlantic salmon are now listed as endangered in Great Britain.
Conservation organizations, including WildFish, Atlantic Salmon Trust and North Atlantic Salmon Fund have repeatedly raised concerns regarding the cumulative impacts of open-net salmon aquaculture on wild stocks.
The Atlantic Salmon Trust’s West Coast Tracking Project has highlighted significant mortality of migrating smolts in aquaculture-intensive regions.
Scotland is a signatory to international conservation obligations under the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization framework, including the Williamsburg Resolution, which commits member states to protecting wild Atlantic salmon.
Anglers are calling for:
- An immediate moratorium on further expansion of open-net salmon farming
- Independent cumulative impact assessment
- Full compliance with international conservation obligations
- Transition toward systems that do not externalise ecological risk
“Anglers are typically conservation volunteers, not protestors,” said a spokesperson from Salmon Fishing Club. “When those who quietly restore rivers and fund science feel compelled to stand at Parliament, it reflects the seriousness of the situation.”
Angling Scotland Chair, Alison Baker said, “Anglers have long been the ‘eyes and ears’ of our rivers, but we are now witnessing a collapse in wild Atlantic salmon numbers that no amount of catch-and-release or local conservation can fix alone. We are at a ‘now or never’ moment where the Scottish Government must look beyond the surface; we cannot allow our iconic wild salmon to be managed into extinction while the primary threats—from open-net pens to migratory barriers—remain inadequately addressed. If we lose the fish, we lose a foundational part of our rural heritage and the very heart of Scottish angling.”
