George. Posted September 25, 2018 Report Share Posted September 25, 2018 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claadehol Posted September 25, 2018 Report Share Posted September 25, 2018 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? George. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davie-L Posted September 25, 2018 Report Share Posted September 25, 2018 (edited) 'Is it also possible that certain shoals of mackerel are genetically programmed to come back tocertain geographical areas every year and so if you remove a whole shoal there are none to comeback 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 September 25, 2018 by davie-L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Posted October 5, 2018 Report Share Posted October 5, 2018 I wonder if this might be part of the problem http://www.shetnews.co.uk/news/17063-poor-sepa-rating-for-local-salmon-farms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davie P Posted November 7, 2018 Report Share Posted November 7, 2018 SEPA proposes stricter rules for salmon farms. Watchdog says current rules not adequate, as impact of salmon farming may not be contained to the vicinity of individual farms. This seems to confirm what many suspected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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