River Wear salmon rod catch beats all records
2 May 2014 05:00 PM
2013 catch figures buck the national
trend
Record numbers of salmon were captured by anglers
fishing the River Wear in 2013.
Environment Agency officers have just finished collating
the rod catch return data from last year and they were delighted to find that
catches on the Wear have hit an all time high.
Catch data show that salmon stocks are the best they
have ever been, with a record 1,731 fish reported by anglers in 2013, compared
to the previous best of 1,613 in 2011.
Sea
trout catches on the Wear were also up last year. Catches rose from 1,427 in
2012 to 1,523 in 2013.
The
River Wear was one of the few rivers in England that actually bucked the trend
of reduced catches in 2013. This dip in figures was caused by the dry summer,
which can hamper fish passage over weirs and reduce angling
success.
Paul Frear, fisheries technical officer at the
Environment Agency, said:
The
2013 fish catches are a real surprise. They show that, despite low river
levels, the Wear can still produce great catches for anglers. Recent
improvements in water quality and river habitats have contributed to these
catches.
Salmon are in important part of our rivers’
ecology and they are a valuable economic fish stock, so this is fantastic news
for the North East.
Fifty years ago, very few salmon or sea trout were seen
in the Wear because the river was too polluted. Due to the successful efforts
of the Environment Agency and its partners, the River Wear’s water
quality is one of the most improved in the country.
The
Environment Agency monitors rod catches of salmon and sea trout from rivers
nationally, and the data show the River Wear is second only to the neighbouring
Tyne as the best salmon river in England and Wales.