Scottish anglers plan Holyrood protest over wild salmon concerns.
Hundreds of anglers and ghillies are expected to gather outside the Scottish Parliament this week amid growing concern over the decline of wild Atlantic salmon.
The protest, scheduled for Wednesday, coincides with a session of Holyrood’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, where Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon is due to face questions about the regulation of salmon farming in Scotland.
Organisers say the demonstration will bring together representatives of Scotland’s angling community, which they estimate includes around 32,000 members. It is believed to be the first time in modern history that organised angling interests have assembled at the Scottish Parliament over concerns related to wild salmon.
Ken Reid, administrator of the Salmon Fishing Club community, said: “Anglers are typically conservation volunteers, not protestors. When the people who quietly restore rivers and fund vital science feel compelled to stand outside Parliament, it reflects the seriousness of the situation and that something has gone badly wrong.”
Alison Baker, chair of Angling Scotland, said anglers were increasingly alarmed by the trend.
“Anglers have long been the ‘eyes and ears’ of our rivers, but we are now witnessing a collapse in wild Atlantic salmon numbers that no amount of catch-and-release or local conservation can fix alone,” she said.
Campaigners attending the demonstration are expected to call for an immediate moratorium on further expansion of open-net salmon farming, an independent cumulative impact assessment and stronger compliance with international conservation obligations.
The protest comes as the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee continues its scrutiny of salmon farming regulation. A committee report published in January last year criticised the pace of progress in improving oversight of the sector and urged ministers to implement reforms within 12 months.
Gougeon is expected to provide an update on the government’s response when she appears before the committee alongside civil servants Jill Barber, head of aquaculture development, and Hazel Bartels, senior delivery lead for farmed fish health and innovation.
