Catches in 2023 confirm views, stated by Natural Resources Wales, that the Atlantic Salmon is now on the verge of extinction in the River Wye and throughout Wales, says the head of the Wye Salmon Association.
Stuart Smith, chairman of the WSA, believes years of complacency by NRW, the Welsh Government’s fisheries agency, is rapidly accelerating the move towards extinction.
“Based on current figures, we are only five or six years away from that devastating position.”
“The total rod catch of salmon throughout the Wye in 2023 is 225, the lowest figure since our records began in1956.
“At regular meetings with the almost defunct NRW Fisheries Department and attendance at the Wales Fisheries Forum and Local Fisheries Group, we tire of hearing the sad facts of the continuing salmon decline, with no clear ideas of how to improve the current situation, and certainly no evidence of recovery” says Stuart Smith.
“NRW’s salmon action plan is mostly long term and aspirational, containing virtually nothing addressing current, urgent and unsustainable levels of stock decline.
“What is required in addition are radically different plans for conserving and protecting wild salmon numbers”.
The Welsh Governments Atlantic Salmon Species Champion, Huw Iranca Davies MS, in a Senedd debate in May 23, said ‘without drastic and urgent action, salmon may become extinct in Wales’.
The Welsh Assembly minister in charge of NRW, Julie James, simply must take restorative action and insist NRW produce a radical, holistic plan for short, medium and long term recovery or she is likely to carry the epithet of “The minister who oversaw the extinction of Welsh and Wye salmon”.
“Proactive action, not simply sitting back and organising more research, seems to be the policy Ms James’ is advocating for her NRW and will simply kill off our salmon”
Feature image: “Atlantic Salmon Adults“- Public Domain Mark 1.0 
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