Jump to content

Weisdale Salmon


redrobbie
 Share

Recommended Posts

Brochbuilder, I have to agree that there is less mackerel inshore compared to 20+ years ago but could this be due to climate change and the fish migrating further north and further out to sea?

It is quite possible that climate change has affected the number of inshore mackerel. Is it not also possible that climate change has shown itself to be detrimental regarding wild salmon?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it also possible that certain shoals of mackerel are genetically programmed to come back to

certain geographical areas every year and so if you remove a whole shoal there are none to come

back to that area.

Certainly, with the vast nets used now on pelagic boats it is possible to remove a whole shoal

from the equation. Therefore if the fish are programmed this way, and many shoals are taken from

around these isles, there wont be many to come back.

That leaves the huge numbers still out on the high seas and very few here in comparison to what I

can remember.

Perhaps it doesn't work that way! Just thought it a possibility.

One thing I do know however is that Norway has vast amounts of money involved in salmon farming,

a lot of it around these isles, so their scientists are unlikely to produce any damning reports.

They also have a vast amount of money invested in pelagic fishing boats so obviously they would be

delighted to see a big increase in mackerel quotas.

Ties in rather nicely with that Norwegian scientific report there, doesn't it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

'Is it also possible that certain shoals of mackerel are genetically programmed to come back to
certain geographical areas every year and so if you remove a whole shoal there are none to come
back to that area.' 

 

Interesting theory and would be keen to hear if there has been any studies into this.

 

The decline of Salmon in Scottish rivers has been documented for the last 50-60 years and although Salmon farming is a relatively young industry being started in the late 70's, can the industry be the sole reason for the decline? 

 

What we can do is use the Salmon farming industry to try and either help reverse of slow the decline, there was an interesting project carried out to restock River Garry:

 

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/1465130/ground-breaking-project-to-restore-salmon-population-in-highland-river/

 

Possibly not the correct thread for this next comment but as you state there is a lot of Norwegian and foreign control in the Salmon Industry and possibly the fishing industry. I know that The Norwegian owners have huge support from their government and banks and we should be thankful they keep investing here.

 

What is clear is that the UK government, Scottish government and UK banks have had little interest in the fishing and aquaculture industries and now these industries are major economic contributers they have jumped on the bandwagon. 

 

'Scottish Salmon is now Scotland's Largest Food Export' is all you read now that the Scottish government are finally taking an interest, pity these industries weren't based in the 'centre of the universe' (London or Edinburgh) then they would have taken an interest 20 years ago.

 

One fact we can't take away from the Aquaculture and fishing industry is that they are more important to the Shetland economy than Oil & Gas, Agriculture, Tourism and knitwear combined. 

 

Note: I dont mean for the last statement as an attack on the other industries, they are all important to the Shetland economy!

Edited by davie-L
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...