Your attention is drawn to the Environment Agency’s national salmon byelaws
that become law and come into force on 1 January 2019. As part of new byelaws
there is a voluntary catch and release expectation for salmon caught on
the Avon (Devon) to ensure catch and release levels greater than 90%.

In order to sustain stocks of brown trout and sea trout the committee
urges visiting anglers and members to return 90% of the sea trout
and 90% of the brown trout caught by them on AFA waters.

The committee hopes that these measures will go some way towards reversing
The decline in salmon and sea trout catches in recent years.

The Environment Agency leaflet “Sea Trout Protection and Preservation” is available here …

There have been good catches of brown trout in recent years. Since 2008
members have returned 99% of the brown trout caught each year on Association
waters.

The committee recommend the following techniques to ensure that salmon,
sea trout and brown trout have the best chance of surviving:

• use de-barbed or barbless hooks
• wet your hands before handling fish
• use tackle that is strong enough to bring fish to hand quickly to avoid
  overtiring them
• do not remove the fish from the water at any time.  If you wish to photograph your catch,  photgraph it in the net and in the water
• hold the fish facing the current, support it from beneath until it recovers