The Urgency of Letting Our Rivers Breathe:

The Urgency of Letting Our Rivers Breathe: Why Suspend Subsistence Salmon Fishing?

Atlantic salmon, once the king of our rivers, are currently facing an unprecedented crisis. While subsistence fishing is a right and a deeply rooted tradition, the current biological situation necessitates a forced pause to prevent irreversible extinction. Here's why this precautionary measure has become essential:

1. The Survival Threshold Has Been Reached

In many rivers, the number of salmon returning from the ocean to spawn has fallen below the "conservation threshold." This means there are no longer enough fish to replace the previous generation. At this stage, every catch, however small, directly reduces the river's capacity to regenerate. Banning fishing ensures that each spawner can lay its eggs.

2. The "Thermal Stress" Factor

With climate change, river water is reaching temperatures that are lethal for salmon (often exceeding 20°C). In water that is too warm, salmon are in survival mode and quickly become exhausted. Simply handling them or stressing them through an attempt to catch them can cause their death, even if they are released. Closing the fishery allows the fish to rest in the cool pools, where they await the rain.

3. A sharp decline in salmon runs

The most recent scientific data (2024-2025) shows a drastic decrease in salmon returns. The causes are numerous (pollution, lack of food at sea, migratory barriers), but the result is the same: there is no longer a surplus to be caught. Continuing to harvest fish from a rapidly declining stock accelerates the local extinction of some populations.

4. Protecting the future of communities

Banning subsistence fishing is a difficult measure, but it is an investment in the future. If the species becomes extinct, the right to fish and the tradition disappear with it forever. By stopping fishing pressure today, we give stocks a chance to rebuild so that future generations can once again exercise this right in a healthy river.

Prudence is not about denying a right, but about protecting the resource that makes that right possible. Faced with collapsing populations, the silence of fishing rods is sometimes the only way to ensure that the call of the salmon will continue to echo in our rivers.