Salmon Fishing

The Atlantic salmon is one of the most iconic and economically important fish species in the UK. Their decline in the Wye was the catalyst for the formation of WUF in 1996, since when we have raised large sums of money and carried out the work needed to turn the tide. To everyone's joy and relief, Wye and Usk salmon populations are now recovering.

Restoring salmon runs is not a quick process and the recovery is nowhere near complete. Although the Wye and Usk are probably producing as many juvenile salmon migrating out to sea as in the 1970s, lower sea survival rates mean far less return to the rivers as adults.

Therefore, it is essential that we continue the work to ensure the rivers' smolt production is maximised. We bought off the drift nets and estuary putchers that took so many Wye and Usk salmon. Now we must continue the work of restoring stream habitat, access to spawning grounds and to improve the quality and quantity of water in our rivers.

Wild Brown Trout & Grayling Fishing

Indigenous wild brown trout are one of the main beneficiaries of WUF's work. Every aspect of it, from habitat restoration to improving access to spawning grounds and reducing diffuse pollution from agriculture, is to their advantage. As Jon Beer's article in the Trout and Salmon magazine in January 2014 testifies, the liming program has also helped the Wye's brown trout populations to recover well in areas that were previously completely fishless due to acidity. Grayling have never been present in the Usk but in the Wye they have benefited from much of this work too.

In addition to more fish we have also opened miles of fishing in the Wye and Usk that was previously inaccessible to all but a few. This isn't just for anglers' immediate benefit though. Landowners (usually farmers) derive an income from their streams, giving an incentive to look after them and thereby helping fish populations across the whole catchment.