Salmon & sea trout fishery statistics 2025

Salmon rod fishery

Of the 28,020 wild salmon reported as caught in the rod fishery, 27,568 were subsequently released and 452 retained. Total rod catch of salmon has generally decreased from its peak of 111,405 in 2010. The 2025 total rod catch was the lowest since records began in 1952 and 68% of the previous five-year average. River flows for much of Scotland were low to extremely low during the first quarter of 2025 (Previous reports | Beta | SEPA | Scottish Environment Protection Agency) and this continued though the year for east coast rivers. This is likely to have contributed to the reduction in catches and rod effort.

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.

Data source: 2025 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 2025 spring catch total (1,629) is the second lowest on record, and 70% of the previous five-year average. The lowest total spring catch on record (2020) was impacted by the fishery closures and restrictions in place during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which also affected the previous five-year average.

Catches of MSW caught after April, summed with one sea-winter salmon (1SW), continued the general decline since their peak in 2010. The 2025 total (26,391) is a decrease of 41% when compared to 2024 and is 68% 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.

Data source: 2025 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 2025, 98% of the annual rod catch and 99% of the spring rod catch, were released (Chart 3). A proportion of the 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: 2025 Scottish salmon and sea trout fishery statistics, Supplementary Tables, Table 1, from the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate.

Rod effort

In 2025, salmon rod effort was reported on 97% of returned rod forms covering 99% of the total reported rod catch. The 2025 rod effort (192,859) is a decrease of 5% when compared to 2024 (203,140 rod days). In 2025, salmon rod effort was reported on 97% of returned rod forms covering 99% of the total reported rod catch. Salmon rod effort information is published from the 2023 onwards.

Data source: 2025 Scottish salmon and sea trout fishery statistics, Supplementary Tables, Table 1, from the Scottish Government’s Marine Directorate.