Salmon and sea trout fishery statistics 2012 – Fisheries Management Scotland

Scotland’s Chief Statistician today published the salmon and sea trout fishery statistics for the 2012 season.

The total reported rod catch (retained and released) of wild salmon for 2012 is 86,013. It is the tenth highest rod catch on record and is 95 per cent of the previous five-year average.

The proportion of the rod catch accounted for by catch and release is the highest recorded. In 2012, 91% of rod caught spring salmon was released, as was 74% of the annual rod catch.

There are clear differences among geographic regions in the relative strength of the 2012 rod catch. The catches in 5 of the 9 regions are ranked within the top 25% of their respective time series. These regions (East, North East, North, North West and Outer Hebrides) are widely geographically distributed across Scotland. Catches from the Moray Firth and West Coast regions produced the lowest rank values, but no region reported catches in the lowest 25% of their time series.