Scottish salmon and sea trout fishery statistics 2024

Salmon rod fishery

Of the 46,978 wild salmon reported as caught in the rod fishery, 45,872 were subsequently released and 1,106 retained. Total rod catch of salmon has generally decreased from its peak of 111,405 in 2010. The 2024 total rod catch was the eighth lowest since records began in 1952 and 114% of the previous five-year average.

Chart 1: Total salmon catch, and released salmon catch, has declined since its peak in 2010

Annual number of salmon reported caught by rod fisheries since 1952, and annual number of salmon reported caught and released by rod fisheries since 1994 (thousands).

Data source: 2024 Scottish salmon and sea trout fishery statistics, Supplementary Tables, Table 1, from the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate.

Stock components

Trends in total rod catch vary among individual stock components (Chart 2).

Catch of spring multi sea-winter salmon (MSW) (taken before 1 May) has generally declined since records began. Although they have been relatively stable in recent years, the 2024 spring catch total (2,593) is the fourth lowest on record, and 104% of the previous five-year average. The five-year average is affected by the fishery closures during the COVID-19 restrictions (2020 and 2021).

Catches of MSW caught after April, summed with one sea-winter salmon (1SW), continued the general decline since their peak in 2010. The 2024 total (44,385) is an increase of 45% when compared to 2023 and is 114% of the previous five-year average.

Chart 2: Spring salmon catch has decreased since records began and summer/autumn salmon catch has decreased since its peak in 2010

Annual number of spring MSW salmon and summer/autumn MSW + 1SW salmon reported by rod fisheries since 1952 (thousands).

Data source: 2024 Scottish salmon and sea trout fishery statistics, Supplementary Tables, Table 1, from the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate.

Catch and release

The percentage of the rod catch accounted for by catch and release has generally increased since 1994, when such information was first recorded. In 2024, 98% of the annual rod catch and 99% of the spring rod catch, were released (Chart 3). A proportion of fish released from the rod fishery may be re-caught and hence inflate the catch statistics by appearing in the reported data more than once.

Chart 3: The percentage of salmon caught and released has increased since records began in 1994

Percentage of catch and release of annual and spring salmon reported by rod fisheries.

Data source: 2024 Scottish salmon and sea trout fishery statistics, Supplementary Tables, Table 1, from the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate.

Rod effort

In 2024, salmon rod effort was reported on 97% of returned rod forms covering 98% of the total reported rod catch. The 2024 rod effort (201,498 rod days) is a decrease of 0.7% when compared to 2023 (202,874 rod days). In 2023, salmon rod effort was reported on 96% of returned rod forms covering 97% of the total reported rod catch. Rod days effort information was first recorded in 2019. Due to the rising return rates of rod forms reporting effort in the earlier seasons, these are not compared to the 2023 and 2024 data.

Data source: 2024 Scottish salmon and sea trout fishery statistics, Supplementary Tables, Table 1, from the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate.