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Technical Report: The Economic Impact of Game and Coarse Fishing in Scotland

Section 4 The Catch

4.0 Introduction

As discussed in section 2, we are much less confident in our estimates of catch than of expenditure. This is for two reasons

1. The sample is confined to the internet based survey which constitutes only half of the observations (1480)

2. The respondents are thought to be keener than the population of anglers as a whole and hence their catch reports are expected to be biased upwards.

Catches of salmon and sea trout by fishery boards are thought to be fairly accurate except possibly in the most remote areas where we suspect some under reporting. On the most popular rivers the value of the fishery is largely determined by the catch rates. Thus for rating purposes there might be an inclination to under report but for marketing and resale purposes there is every reason to over report. It is assumed therefore that these figures are accurate.

To correct for bias we therefore look at the salmon catch rates estimated from the FRS catch and our calculated angler day figures and the catch rates reported by our respondents. The latter is approximately twice the former and constitutes a measure of bias. The true catch rate for all species is then assumed in general to be half the reported rates, which, given the number of angler days gives us a measure of the catch. In some cases where unusual catch rates combine with small number small numbers other ad hoc adjustments have been made. For example Rainbow Trout catch rates in stocked fisheries are unlikely to fall much below wild brown trout rates or to be less than one per day. The estimated catch rate is clearly shown in the accompanying tables.

It must be recognised that these figures are likely to be accurate only in terms of orders of magnitude but are valuable in that they do constitute for some species a first attempt at measuring the catch rate in Scotland.

4.1 Dumfries and Galloway

Table 4.1.1 Catches in Dumfries and Galloway

4.2 The Borders

Table 4.2.1 Catches in the Borders

4.3 The Highlands

Table 4.3.1 Catches in the Highlands

4.4 North East Scotland

Table 4.4.1 Catches in North East Scotland

4.5 Central Scotland

Table 4.5.1 Catches in Central Scotland

4.6 Western Isles

Table 4.6.1 Catches in the Western Isles

4.7 Orkney and Shetland

Table 4.7.1 Catches in Orkney and Shetland

4.8 All Scotland

Table 4.8.1 Total Scottish Catches

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