National Salmon and Sea Trout Protection Byelaws

Results updated 10 Jun 2019

Result of advertising the proposed Salmon and Sea Trout Protection Byelaws

We submitted the byelaws to government in the summer of 2018, taking into consideration the 1350 responses that we received. The byelaws were confirmed, with amendments, in December 2018. They came into force on the 1 January 2019 and mean the following restrictions are in place in England and on the Border Esk:

• No net fishing for salmon on rivers ‘At Risk’ and ‘Probably At Risk’ (some fishing for sea trout will still be allowed). This includes closure of all drift net fisheries.
• Mandatory catch and release of salmon by anglers and use of fly or lure only before 16 June in any year. These are the renewed 1998 Spring Salmon Byelaws.
• Mandatory catch and release of salmon by anglers on the rivers that are classed as ‘At Risk’. These are the Cumbrian Calder, Dorset Stour and Yealm.
• Mandatory catch and release of salmon by anglers on the rivers that are listed as ‘Recovering Rivers’ (Table 1). These are rivers where salmon were effectively wiped out and small populations have re-established in recent years.

The confirmed byelaws are provided in the “files” section along with the documents that supported their confirmation.

Table1: ‘Recovering Rivers’ where mandatory catch and release of salmon is required

Name of River	County
Allen	Cornwall
Aln	Northumberland
Alt	Merseyside
Annas	Cumbria
Avill	Somerset
Bela	Cumbria
Belford Burn	Northumberland
Blackeney Brook or Blackpool Brook	Gloucestershire
Blyth	Northumberland
Bristol Avon
Brit	Dorset
Derwent	Durham and Northumberland
Don	Tyne & Wear
Doniford	Somerset
Ellen	Cumbria
Ems	West Sussex
Fal	Cornwall
Gilpin	Cumbria
Harbourne	Devon
Heddon	Devon
Keer	Lancashire
Lerryn	Cornwall
Looe	Cornwall
Medway	Sussex and Kent
Meon	Hampshire
Mersey
Mite	Cumbria
Otter	Devon
Ouse	Yorkshire
Par	Cornwall
Parrett	Dorset and Somerset
Porth	Cornwall
Seaton	Cornwall
Sid	Devon
Skelton Beck	North Yorkshire
Skinningrove Beck	North Yorkshire
Stour	Kent
Team	Durham and Tyne and Wear
Thames
Trent	Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire
Valency	Cornwall
Wampool	Cumbria
Wansbeck	Northumberland
Waren Burn	Northumberland
Washford	Somerset
Waver	Cumbria
Weaver	Cheshire
Winster	Cumbria

The Environment Agency have introduced these restrictions on fishing in England and on the Border Esk in response to the international decline in salmon stocks. Salmon stock numbers are currently among the lowest on record and are below sustainable levels in many rivers.

We would like to thank all those who responded to the advertising of these byelaws.

Files:

• Salmon and Sea trout Protection Byelaws 2018, 154.5 KB (PDF document)
• Statement to support byelaw submission - Aug 2018, 864.6 KB (PDF document)
• Appendix 1: Summary of responses to initial consultation - Feb 2018, 1.3 MB (PDF document)
• Appendix 2: Stage 1 HRA - Mar 2018, 622.4 KB (PDF document)
• Appendix 3: CRoW Act App 4 Assessment - Mar 2018, 475.0 KB (PDF document)
• Appendix 4: Annex 7 ICES Assessment, 334.1 KB (PDF document)
• Appendix 5: The current state of salmon stocks - Mar 2018, 1.7 MB (PDF document)
• Appendix 6: Proposed Byelaws Technical Case - Mar 2018, 1.3 MB (PDF document)
• Appendix 7: Initial Consultation Document - Aug 2017, 1.4 MB (PDF document)
• Appendix 9: Advertised Salmon and Sea Trout Protection Byelaws - Mar 2018, 5.4 MB (PDF document)
• Appendix 10: Advertising Responses Summary Report - Aug 2018, 815.6 KB (PDF document)
• Appendix 11: Standard replies to objectors - Aug 2018, 379.1 KB (PDF document)
• Appendix 15: Addendum to HRA and CRoW Assessments - Aug 2018, 280.5 KB (PDF document)
• Appendix 16: Natural England addendum covering letter - Aug 2018, 159.3 KB (PDF document)
• Appendix 17: Rod Fishery BIT Assessment - Aug 2018, 321.6 KB (PDF document)
• North East Coastal Net Fishery amendments - Sept 2018, 240.9 KB (PDF document)