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I wonder whether anyone can throw light on how the Nith's sea trout numbers have been over the past few seasons? The reason I ask is because the Annan and Border Esk would appear to share a similar, recent, dramatic decline. It would be of interest to see whether this is a Solway-based problem, though it would appear that with the odd exception, the decline is much wider spread than just the Solway.

Hoppy is right about the position up till June, and as of after that date it will be strongly recommended. If after that period there is little compliance, I think one of the favoured options is legally enforceable C&R.

The Nith has experienced a similar decline to the Annan, although the Border Esk's decline seems the most catastrophic, down to just two hundred odd fish last year (salmon were ok). It seems to be a Solway-wide problem, with echoes of it elsewhere in Scotland. A lot is being done to investigate the causes and consider solutions, as ever with these things there is usually not one single cause.

At the risk of sounding complacent (i'm not) The one glimmer of hope is that sea trout seem to be much more mercurial than salmon, and populations seem to be able to recover as quickly as they deteriorated. I would not like to put money on it though. This particular episode on the Solway (and more specifically the Esk) has been tracked since 2001.

From the Fishannan web site:

Over the last 4 years the numbers of sea trout caught on the Annan has reduced somewhat, although it is still a very good sea trout river compared to many others. As a precaution the Annan DSFB is introducing a new sea trout angler's code. All sea trout caught before 1st June must be returned (by law). After this date we would like all anglers to return the first fish they catch, consider taking the second one, return the third one and so on. Also large sea trout are proportionately the most important part of the spawning stock so we would like to ask all anglers to return all fish over 3lb. In addition to these measures the Annan DSFB will be spending several hundred thousand pounds on improving the habitat in sea trout spawning areas.

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