WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK 29
tounsustainablelevels.In
yesteryear,‘TheSilveryTay’was
namedasa resultoftheriver
shimmeringwiththespringsmolt
run.Atonetimealmostevery
riversysteminScotlandand
mostoftheUKhada hatchery
programmethatwasassisting
inproducinga hugesmoltshoal
toleaveourshoreseachseason.
Sizeandnumbersarekeyto
theirsurvival.If theshoalis too
small,predatorspickthemoff.As
theshoalgoingoutreducesthe
percentagereturnsreducealso.
I attendedthetwo-day
stockingconferenceinGlasgow
inNovember2013,tolistento
ourleadingscientistsatthe
timecondemningtheuseof
hatcheriesduetotheriskof
geneticinterference.Oneyoung
contributorstooduptoexplain
thetheorythattheiragency
onlysupportedpairedmating
- thismeanstwofishchoose
eachother– andstrippingfish
inthehatcherywaswrong.
Anyonewhohaswitnesseda
propersalmonredspawning
willknowit is likeanorgywith
fishchasingeachotheraround
thepool,sometimestwococks
laideithersideofa hen,theodd
precociousparrnippinginand
contributinginbetween.This
scientificstatementmakesa true
countrymanweepwithdismay.
Namea singlecasewherethis
modernscienceandtheory
haveproducedandimproveda
fishery?Onecasewherestocks
havenotfalleninrecentyears?
Wehave,historically,until
relativelyrecentlystockedour
riversfordecadesandinsome
casescenturies.ThefamousTay
SalmonFisheriesCompany,run
bytheinfamousPDMallochwith
hisarmyofkeepersandgillies
patrollingthebanks,controlling
vermin,enthusiasticallycarrying
outa stockingprogrammeis
theonlymodelforsalmonto
standa chanceofholdingtheir
groundagainstthepressure
causedbyman.Apparently,we
canreintroduceandartificially
feedredkitesandseaeagles
withnodetrimentaleffectsto
the genetic strains why does
sciencetelluswecannotdothis
withsalmon?Scientistsshow
usworthlessgreengraphsof
fryandparrcountsonourriver
systems.Thetruegreengraph
ofyesteryearwaswhengillies
witnessedsalmonspawningup
thesmallestofstreamswiththeir
backsoutofthewaterasthere
wasnoroominthetributaries
andmainstems.Thetruegreen
graphhasneverbeenwitnessed
bymostscientists.Theonly
graphsthatmatteris oursmolt
outputandthematurereturning
fish.Thisis currentlyflashingred
onallourrivers.I havebeena
keensalmonrodfor 40 yearsbut
wearecurrentlyovertheedgeof
thecliffandscienceregardingthe
useofhatcheriesis complicitin
thisfailure.Oursalmonfisheries
and,importantly,theirbenefitto
thesurroundingruraleconomies
aredoomedwithouta braveand
collectiveapproach from all our
fisheryboards.
Graham Salisbury, by emailRIGHTONPOINT
TocontinuethepraiseforEnglish
pointers[Theidealgundog, April
issue],thisis Finlay[below],a
five-year-oldEnglishpointer
doingwhatcomesnaturally.The
quarryonthisoccasionwasa
hare.Thisdoghasa phenomenal
senseofsmellandpointingis in
hisDNA.Asa hugebonus,heis
thebest-natureddogI’vehad.
Hemaybea bitdense,and
hasbeendifficulttotrain,buthe
morethanmakesupforit with his
manygoodqualities.
DrJohnMark
Grindleford, North Derbyshire