ANGLERS have been warned they face criminal prosecution if they fail to return any salmon they catch on local rivers between now and the end of March.

A new statutory ban came into force when the new season got under way on the Tweed catchment.

It means that even if a salmon dies, it must be left in the water and not retained.

And it supercedes the voluntary 100 per cent catch and release policy which the River Tweed Commissioners and beat proprietors have already introduced in a bid to preserve spring running stocks.

However that voluntary rule, although not supported by law, will still apply to all salmon taken between April 1 and June 30 although sea trout may be killed and retained.

By common consent, last season was one of the most disappointing in recent years in terms of salmon catches.

Although the exact totals will not be confirmed until the annual general meeting of the RTC next month, it is understood around 7,000 fish were taken from the catchment on both sides of the border in 2014, against a five-year average of 13,000.

At Boleside, 244 fish were caught by rods, compared to 466 the previous year.

It was a similar story on other local beats with just 68 salmon caught at Fairnilee, compared to 206 in 2013.

At Sunderand Hall, the 2014 catch was 47 (80 in 2013), at Lower Pavilion it was 95 (166) and at Middle Pavilion it was 106 (156).

But amid pessimism for the future, one prominent beat owner believes predictions of the species’ demise are premature to say the least and that previous falls in catches have been followed by recovery.

Writing in the online platform Tweedbeats, Peter Straker-Smith of Carham, between Kelso and Coldstream, acknowledges that only 130 fish were taken on his beat last year against a five year average of 363.

But catch records at Carham indicate such slumps – followed by recoveries - have occurred before, notably between 1967 and 1979 when an average of 70 fish were taken due to the collapse of the spring fishery associated with the disease ulcerative dermal necrosis (UDN).

As to what went wrong last year, Mr Straker-Smith said: “We do not know and probably never will.

“Similar effects were suffered across the north Atlantic which rules out local causes and any effects of man’s predation of returning salmon, including by the perennial bogeymen: drift and costal nets and pelagic trawlers.

“These are clearly important to the welfare of salmon but cannot be blamed for 2014 being so much worse than previous years across such a wide area. The fish that did return to Tweed were of decent size and in good condition which does not indicate they were particularly short of food [at sea].

“We will not know until many years have passed if this is a long-term problem, but in the short term, we have every reason to believe there have been quite enough spawning fish in the system in 2014 to fully populate the burns with fry this year.

“So far the winter has not produced dramatic spates to wash out the redds so there is no cause for panic.

“In summary, we know dramatic falls in catches happen from time to time…but, to date, all such falls have been followed sooner or later by recovery.

“Man’s knowledge of salmon at sea is rudimentary, so there is little we can do beyond encouraging others to restrict or stop interceptory netting and encouraging research that might help us understand more about salmon at sea, alongside continuing to ensure the health of the Tweed system.”