Scotland’s wild salmon numbers sink to record low amid ‘catastrophic decline’

Official figures show rod catches of salmon slumped to just 28,020 – the lowest since records began in 1952.

Scotland’s wild salmon numbers have sunk to a record low amid renewed claims commercial fish farms are a major factor driving a “catastrophic decline”.

Official figures show rod catches of salmon slumped to just 28,020 – the lowest since records began in 1952.

According to data released by the Chief Statistician the figure is 68 per cent below the previous five-year average.

Conservationists and Government bodies have warned of salmon’s potential extinction in many Scottish rivers within the next two decades.

Catches have decreased from a high of 111,405 in 2010, with the 2025 reports “consistent with a general pattern of decline in numbers of wild salmon”.

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Abigail Penny, executive director of Animal Equality UK, said: “The Scottish salmon farming industry’s response to criticism is as predictable as it is hollow – deflect, deny, delay.

“The facts, however, speak for themselves – last year alone the industry recorded 47 major non-compliance breaches, a 40 per cent increase in the use of carcinogenic formaldehyde, over 1200 sea lice breaches and 12million farm mortalities.

“A Scottish Government advisory committee has already raised serious concerns about the lack of progress from both industry and regulators, yet expansion continues unchecked while farmed and wild animals pay the price – animals, the environment and local communities cannot withstand this relentless pressure indefinitely.”

Nick Underdown, Scotland director for campaigners WildFish, says reversing the spiralling decline in salmon and sea trout populations will only begin once the “core controllable pressures are properly addressed”.

He said: “Salmon farming is acknowledged as a major cause of this catastrophic decline through genetic dilution and transmission of sea lice parasites to wild populations.”

Campaigners say open-net salmon farming is a major factor in the decline of wild Atlantic salmon.

They argue that Scotland’s 215 fish farms – many along the west coast – pollute surrounding waters through waste, chemical use and sea lice outbreaks that can spread.

Despite anglers releasing 98 per cent of salmon and 92 per cent of sea trout, campaigners say the damage is happening before fish reach the rod.

The figures show fish reported as of “farmed origin” – meaning they likely escaped from farmed fish pens – represented 1.6 per cent of the total catch.

Ariane Burgess, Scottish Greens’ candidate for the Highlands and Islands, said the country’s land, rivers and coasts were Scotland’s “greatest inheritance”.

A spokesperson for industry trade body Salmon Scotland said: “We share concerns about the long-term decline in wild salmon but it is wrong to suggest salmon farming is driving it.”