View from living room window

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http://www.silverrunpublishing.com

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From the new year all fishing updates will be available by email to registered users of The Salmon Annual. See Introduction page (4) for details.

Should they resume fishing for salmon in the ocean no doubt the Greenlanders (who also abide by the conservation schem by being paid not to fish for salmon in their coastal waters) would follow suit. This wreckless act, aided by the Scottish government, could hold dire consequences for the still fragile salmon stocks of the North Atlantic.

The message was: “This year fished the Napetipi for the second year in a row. It’s an ‘undiscovered’ gem of a river just west of labrador on Quebec’s lower north shore-a very healthy run with quite a few fish up to 14 lbs as well as big grilse, and a tremendous run of sea trout. Your readership might be interested to know of it. Regards, Peter D.”

The wild Napetipi

Perhaps one of the reasons to describe the Napetipi as an “undiscovered gem” is because so few people use the river, and those who do like to keep it a secret. For example the season begins on July 3  with one octogenarian angler in camp, he fishes just one pool and manages to average over 3 fish per day. He’s terrified of talking about it in case he loses his fishing to someone else!

A good Napetipi salmon

Another good fish taken during Peter's visit

From the start of July to mid-August but three score anglers fish at the camp. All are regulars who enjoy the camp, the remote location, scenery and of course the fishing. During that period 337 salmon and grilse were landed, all on barbless hooks.

The camp is situated on the shore of Lac Pareme, which lies at the north west end of Napetipi Lake. Access is by boat or float plane to Napetipi Lake then a ten-minute ride by ATV to the camp.

For further details and contact information please visit the website of Napetipi Outfitters. Any enquiries should be addressed to Riess Bilodeau lfrbilodeau@globetrotter.net

http://www.napetipioutfitters.com/lower.asp

Please feel free to write a letter of disapproval to the minister .

Mr. Erik Solheim, Minister

Ministry of Environment

P.B. 8013 Dep

0030 Oslo  –   Norway                                                                      September 9, 2010

Dear Minister Solheim,

Sadly under your leadership, Norway’s wild salmon stocks and those of your neighbours have continued to deteriorate because of your failure to act responsibly. In your letter to us on December 3rd, 2007, you outlined regulations that you claimed were in line with the international scientific advice that mixed-stock fisheries should be phased out.  You also declared that spawning targets would be met and aquaculture put in check.  Instead the situation gets worse with more poorly regulated fish farms being permitted.

Furthermore, you promised that regulations would be developed with contributions from interest groups and local enterprises and that the management regime would be adjusted to ensure that all the consequences would be acceptable to interested parties (like us).   However, no meaningful action, in terms of preserving and improving the salmon stocks has taken place. In reality you seem to have no leadership agenda and it is high time you realised that this has earned international disapproval.

Norway’s lack of  restorative action has incensed the Faroe Islanders who are now considering counter actions reflected in their recent NASCO messages.  They are a poor nation. Why should they continue to protect Norway’s biggest spawners only to see them slaughtered under your direct policies?  Norway´s salmon policy should be a key issue here and why is the Faroe Island such substandard nation?  If they return to their historic high-seas fishing efforts, the consequences would be disastrous and very wide-ranging.

Perhaps our most serious concern is that Norway continues to ignore the UN  Law of the Sea (art. 66) and damages wild salmon stocks that should be allowed to return to their native rivers in the Kola.  Pathetically, in a letter admitting their guilt, your Foreign Office officials claim that they are trying to avoid “economic dislocation to rural fishermen in Finnmark” and request a period of grace.  Well, three years have passed and it is time for this fishery to be stopped forthwith, as you will have heard recently from Moscow.

It is shame that yours is the only Atlantic salmon country that has failed to respond to what is a genuine international concern for the future of your salmon rivers and the interests of the other countries that your present policies are damaging.  This is the reality of the situation and it is all the more regrettable when one recalls the apparent cooperative spirit of your letter in 2007 and your forgotten promise to work with the private sector to restore salmon stocks.  Short term political and economic gains never offset long term natural resource disasters like that now befalling Norway and its neighbors culturally and internationally important Atlantic salmon populations.  Perhaps, what saddens me the most, is that Norway is joining that list of nations that that can only be considered negligent when it comes to the management of the worlds natural resources.

Already the salmon stocks of great many Norwegian rivers are beyond repair.  The most recent assessment of you own scientific advisory committee reports the vast majority of your rivers fail to meet minimum spawning target and no less than 70% of the rivers are subject to significant overharvest and they conclude the situation is worsening.    This is the dreadful reality of the situation and it is all the more regrettable when one recalls the apparent cooperative spirit of your letter in 2007 and your forgotten promise to work with  the private sector to restore salmon stocks. Disconnecting with the private sector will never work. That is why the situation in Norway continues to deteriorate and the salmon stocks continue to go down.

We believe that this is what Norway should do:-

• Immediately stop all netting, by bag nets and bend nets, in the Varanger district and any other nets that intercept Russian salmon.

• Promote a joint private and public sector plan that will provide effective and generous compensation to salmon netsmen who volunteer to cease mixed-stock fisheries.

• Order the removal of all open salmon pens that are adversely affecting native salmon and sea trout populations and give the owners a very short timescale in which to comply with the order.

• Set a three-year deadline for all salmon farmers to upgrade their operations to reach levels of long term environmental sustainability.  A requirement to transfer all pens out of the sea and locate them on shore in a form that excludes any possibility of escape by either fish or parasites.

Yours sincerely,

Orri Vigfusson

Map showing the salmon's range at sea - and the areas where mixed stock interceptory nets continue to operate.

Sunset over the Breiddalsa estuary.

WHERE IS THE rain? Another dry week has passed us by in which we had a dropping river, and very brassy, windy conditions over the weekend. Saturday morning also saw the first snow on the tips of the highest mountains, followed by a thin scattering lower down on Sunday morning. The plovers are flocking, the whimbrel and redshanks have mostly disappeared and the geese are making preparations for the great journey south. Autumn is definitely on its way.

My rods from UK had a lovely send off yesterday morning when we found some fresh fish in our pools on the bottom beat. Despite the horrible conditions – cold strong winds and water temperature of about 7 degrees – the fish were still coming to the surface to take Sunray Shadows.

Peter Davis with his last fish of the trip.

Tom Bruce-Jones finishes off in grand style with a lovely sea-liced hen fish.

Last week’s group from Sportfish enjoyed some very enjoyable days here after a successful three-day stint at Jokla. In the photo’s we see company M.D. Grant Harris playing a fish on our beat’s uppermost pool on the last morning, while at the bottom of the beat Patrick Field’s technique is assed by some of the locals.

S.R.P. photo's

We have a new group from UK beginning today so am praying that we get a little of the wet stuff to help our cause. Fresh fish are coming in on each tide, mostly grilse but the odd 2SW pops up most days, and given a little lift in water levels they could do very well.

Last morning on the lower Tinnudalsa, the main tributary.

The river is coming down to summer level but rain drops are bouncing off the window as I write, so we may see a change come the morning.
Per Brannstrom is leading a team of roving Swedes who’ve had good fishing over at Jokla and are now with us at Breiddalsa to check out the brown trout and char fishing.