28 WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK
the1990s.Thegirlridinghimis
JeannieBrown.DesertOrchid’s
ownerslivenotfarawayonthe
NorthYorkMoorsandthatis
wherehespenthis summers
whenracing.
AdrianDangar
Nunnington, York
SALMONINCRISIS
Whena birdoranimalis in
dangerofextinction,theRSPBor
relevantcharitiesororganisations
introducebreedingprogrammes
ordeviseothermethodsto
preserveandincreasenumbers.
Whenhatcheriesarementioned
toincreasesalmonnumberswe
aretoldtheydon’tworkorwe
cannotusethem.Sowhatthehell
doweuse?What other tools do
wehave?
Wehavelistenedtoand
trustedthescientistsfor 30
yearsandseennothingviable
inreturn.Theyhaveconvinced
agenciesthehatcheriesshould
beclosed.Why?Weknowthey
workasis shownfromtheRiver
TyneandinIceland,yetwesit
backanddonothing.Theonly
waytoincreasesalmonnumbers
andgivethema chanceis touse
a hatchery.I believeit’scalled a
breedingprogramme.
So,will‘Queen’Nicolagetoff
herhighhorseandseewhatis
happeningtoScottishrivers?If
not,Scotlandwillhavefailingand
emptyestates,emptyriversand
thebusinessesthatrelyonthe
fishingindustrywillclose,leaving
fishermenand women without an
income.
I loveScotlandandwas
fortunatetofishthereforsix
weekseachyear.NowI fishjust
oneweeka year.Werodsgo
tocatchfishnotto practise our
castingskills.
Comorantcontrolis
simple:shootonsight.We
havecontrolledfoxes,crows,
woodpigeonanddeerfor
hundredsofyearsandtheyhave
notsufferedinnumbers– infact,
theirnumbersareincreasing.I
donotwishforthecomorantto
becomeextinct,justcontrolled
andkeptawayfromthe
rivers. The RSPB has 200 nature
reservesthatthecomorantcan
useandbeleftundisturbed.We
needa plantostockandprotect
ourriversfromthe birds that do
thedamage.
Iwouldliketosayweareon
theedgeofa cliffbutI thinkwe
havefallentothebottomwith
regardtothismatter.Weneed
actionnownotanotherscientific
projecttoseewhatcomorants
eat– it’sfish.Justask the people
onthefrontline.
Alan Robinson, by email
Age14,I wasinvitedtofishthe
RiverLuneatHalton,Lancashire.
Lookingoffthefootbridgeacross
theriverI wasspellboundfor
morethan 15 minutesbythe
3,000to4,000salmonplus
sea-troutthatI couldsee.These
daysarelonggone.I havejust
returnedfromanannualprime
springweekona mid-riverbeat
ononeofthebigfourwherethe
runwewitnessedwaspitiful.We
havea strongteamofeightrods
anddoubledthecatchcompared
tothetopbeatontheriverwith
sixfish,thetopbeat would expect
inexcessof30.
Today,salmonfacea
fundamentalproblem:too
manypeopleonourplanet
withworldwidepressurefrom:
globalwarming;illegalnetting
andby-productcatchesat
sea;lackofpredatorcontrolin
riversandaroundourestuaries;
andscience.Theonlyreal
areafisheriescaninfluenceis
thein-riverpartofthecycle.
Numbers of smolts have fallen
DesertOrchid(left)enjoying a day
with the Sinnington
