European Salmon numbers grow in wake of net ban

Spiel · August 23, 2008

European Salmon numbers grow in wake of net ban

August 18, 2008 / www.great-lakes.org

The European driftnet ban introduced on January 1st 2008 in the Baltic Sea has paid off after only six months. European anglers report more salmon have returned to the rivers and anglers have already begun reporting unusually large catches. The upstream migration of salmon took place in the rivers around the Baltic Sea in June and sources report more salmon numbers present than there has been for a number of years.

"The ban has a very positive effect on the return of spawning

salmon from the Baltic Sea into the rivers. It is likely that weare talking about 100,000 more salmon compared to last year," says Hakan Carlstrand, an expert from the Swedish national sportfishing organization "Sportfiskarna" and a member of the European Anglers Alliance (EAA).

In previous years, around 300,000 salmon have been caught annually – around half of which caught by driftnetting. Swedish rivers could expect to see the return of an additional 50,000 to 100,000 salmon compared to past years numbers if the ban continues to work to its full potential.