Mixed-stock salmon fishing impacts on management, in that by definition it takes fish from a number of different river stocks. Whereas anglers can practise 'catch and release' in order to preserve vulnerable stocks or stock components, net fisheries are carried out with the purpose of harvesting fish.
On some occasions, where salmon have been taken in fixed engines and thus remain free swimming until removed, netsmen released fish as a conservation measure. However, those netsmen who are members of the Salmon Net Fishing Association of Scotland have preferred to delay the start of their season to allow the agreed most vulnerable stock component free access to freshwater.
It is acknowledged that netsmen's rights to catch fish are just as much enshrined in heritable title as those of anglers. We intend to set up a committee to look at all aspects of mixed stock exploitation, especially its impact on good management as well as on stocks. It will develop a strategy to conserve vulnerable stocks of a species listed within an Annex of the European Habitats Directive, and to meet our other international obligations, such as to NASCO. We would also propose to study all the existing and emerging science that is pertinent to this subject, and develop recommendations which could be fed into policy development for Scotland.