Committee of Launceston Anglers Association Position Statement regarding Angling for Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar)
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) states:
“In the latest species reassessment by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, released at COP28 (11th December 2023), that Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) have been reclassified from ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Endangered’ in Great Britain (as a result of a 30-50% decline in British populations since 2006 and 50-80% projected between 2010-2025).”
LAA Committee are deeply concerned and saddened that we have now got to this state of affairs regarding our salmon stock. We currently feel unable to promote the deliberate targeting of this species by angling, which can interfere with and disrupt the passage of individual salmon to spawning while stock is stressed and endangered with extinction.
It is our considered opinion as LAA Committee that, given the ongoing decline in Atlantic salmon numbers in the Tamar system and the IUCN declaration of it being an endangered species, threatened with extinction, members should no longer fish for salmon using any method – fly, artificial lure or natural bait. However, we wish to avoid introducing a mandatory rule on this matter. Should individual LAA members wish to fish for salmon, they may continue to do so using their own discretion, without prejudice, following our current rules of angling with the catch and release policy at all times.
LAA will not be issuing visitor day fishing tickets for Salmon angling this season.
Committee wish to assure members that our current stocks of Brown trout (Salmo trutta) and Grayling (thymallus thymallus) are healthy. We will continue to work with riparian owners, the Environment Agency, Westcountry Rivers Trust and the Tamar and Tributaries Fishing Association to conserve and improve salmonid spawning and juvenile habitat across all our waters and the wider Tamar catchment.
Launceston Anglers Association Committee, 1st March 2024
Further information on the IUCN and its findings can be found at: