This is the conclusion of scientific experts at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINR) who have evaluated the results of a five-year NASF compensation scheme that has greatly reduced the number of bag nets operating in this very long fiord. NINR experts analysed the effects of the first year of the buyout on the various rivers and the extent of the increase in spawning numbers of Atlantic salmon. The independent scientific report says: "Our estimates indicate that the compensation scheme has resulted in a considerable increase in the catches of salmon in the rivers draining to the fjord. "

The scientists compared the 2005 situation with the numbers of fish that would have been expected to survive the nets if the commercial fishery had been in full operation.

"We estimated that the number of salmon entering the rivers increased by approximately 9,300 fish (49 metric tons)," they reported. They conclude that egg deposition in the rivers also increased by approximately 24 percent.

"This has given a tremendous boost to the conservation project we launched in Norway last year and is great news for everyone around the world who supports the NASF Campaign," commented Orri Vigfússon, Chairman of NASF International in Reykjavík. "It shows that nothing works better than the commercial conservation agreements promoted by NASF. The hard-working Trondheim group that organized this scheme has done a magnificent job which should be an example for the rest of Norway.
 

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"An increase of 24 percent in year one is wonderful and we should expect to build on this increase in the next four years. I am convinced this will boost the angling tourist industry in the Trondheim region and I hope that the value of salmon fishing rights in those rivers will double in value in no time. It is important that we continue to support similar programmes throughout the Norwegian coastal areas.

"Sadly, at the very same time that NASF was demonstrating the way ahead in Norway the Irish Government was ignoring the call of its own fishery scientists to suspend the Irish mixed-stock fisheries.

"We have proved that we can rebuild salmon stocks not just in Ireland but in the rest of EU countries. The fact is that for far too long the Irish nets have blockaded salmon returning to Europe from the high seas feeding grounds around Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands"

The North Atlantic Salmon Fund, NASF, is a coalition of voluntary conservation groups who have come together to restore stocks of wild Atlantic salmon to their historic abundance. For further information see www.nasfonline.org