availability, recent catches, water conditions and book fishing on-line as easily as booking an air flight. It is now widely recognised that salmon fishing makes a major contribution to the Scottish economy and provides a valued economic lifeline for some fragile rural communities.

Not many salmon beats change hands during the average season but Bell Ingram were this year fortunate to be joint agents in the sale of one of the most famous beats on one of the most famous rivers in the world: Cairnton on the Aberdeenshire Dee. This beat can reasonably claim to be the home of floating line salmon fishing because this is where Arthur Wood pioneered and developed the technique. The sale attracted a lot of interest and many viewers were shown over this beautiful fishing estate. The property attracted several very healthy offers at the closing date and has been sold for a sum well in excess of the asking price.

Can this revival last? Are there still threats to the survival of this splendid species? What can fishers, owners, organisations, environmentalists do to ensure that it does survive? We were discussing this very subject with the owner of some magnificent salmon fishing very recently and speculating where the biggest threats might lie. We covered a wide spectrum in our discussion: disease, climate change, continued netting, factory fishing of salmon food sources such as sandeels, criminal activity, operating costs, bureaucracy and red-tape, anti-fieldsports campaigners: which of these poses the greatest threat, what can we do about them? Is there some other horror waiting in the wings? This year ICES (The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) reported at the NASCO (North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation) annual meeting in Finland that ‘wild Atlantic salmon populations around the North Atlantic remain at very low levels despite many years of severe reductions in commercial salmon fisheries and other conservation actions.’