Salmon and Sea Birds

I’m sure we all learn so much from conversation with those who possess a great deal of practical knowledge and as a listener, I learned a lot from conversation with my Grandfather, a man who, with the exception of a spell with the Merchant Navy during the war, spent his whole life fishing the Moray Firth and sometimes the West Coast, from his small 45’ seine-netter.

One of the main things I remember and it rings true with what is happening today, was the fact he always maintained the sea has the power to feed the world and everything in it ten times over if properly managed, with failure to do so ending in a collapse, the first signs of which being a drop in numbers of sea birds reliant on sand eels and Herring sprats, also a reduction in numbers of salmon and Trout migrating back to our rivers! He maintained – if the first 3 miles of the sea around the coastline was healthy, not over fished, the balance of predators kept in check and the water’s not overly polluted, then all will be fine with both sea birds and migratory fish. However, failure to understand properly the impact of – over-fishing, pollution or predators would lead to all sorts of problems, the obvious sign of which would be a reduction in both birds and migratory fish.

Interestingly, yesterday I heard on the news that the RSPB were “Seriously Concerned” about the “Internationally Important” Sea bird colonies around our coast, many of which have halved in size over the past 30 years. Also interestingly, they put most of this down to “Global Warming” and the effect of warmer sea surface temperatures [SST] on Plankton and so the beginning of the food chain. I would think there is something in this theory, indeed, fluctuating SSTs have been common knowledge for the past 80 or more years, with those living with it, adapting to an ever changing ocean.

If we look rationally at the above we see that SST have increased, something which both we and our forefathers knew about but physically, other than adapt, can do nothing about. However, if we look at other possible reasons for the demise of the Birds, like most of those things, it might just be a combination of factors causing the rot! So what do we categorically know? And, more than this, can we do anything about it?

We know – Seal Populations have risen from 5000 – 250,000 in the 100 years between 1900 and 2000. Fact! Mind you, we, the tax payer, are still paying people to ascertain whether or not those actually eat salmon! No action to take place until we find out. More research needed!

We Know – The Danes and others have hovered up Sand Eels by the millions of tonnes over the past 30 years, decimating the feeding and breeding grounds of Herring and other key species on which salmon, sea trout as well as Sea Birds depend. Mind you, although 99.99, we’re not 100% sure about this either, Sand eels are a Dynamic and incredibly complex species – More research needed!

We Know – Because of over fishing inside the 3 mile limit, species dynamics changed. A once abundance of Cod, Haddock, Herring gave way to Prawns and Mackerel, now under pressure themselves; and all the time the warning signs are staring us all in the face – Diminishing numbers Sea Birds are a sure sign something is wrong, and to a lesser extent salmon and sea trout which have the insurance policy of their offspring spending more time in the river prior to migrating to the sea thus increasing their chances of survival in the ever changing ocean. Not complicated at all, in fact, very simple!

At one time 99.99% would have been enough to introduce some preventative measures, but, like all else today, we now must be 100% sure!

What has happened to our once inventive nation of forward thinkers who prized common sense above the nonsense we surround ourselves with today? Oh MY, The King has no clothes on, again!