Have you caught a Pacific pink salmon in England?

The inland and coastal waters of England are home to a host of different fish species, but we can now add another name to that list, the Pacific pink salmon. Up until recently, catching a Pacific pink salmon was as rare as netting a red herring. However in 2017 unprecedented numbers of this species were reported within inshore coastal waters and rivers in Scotland and England.

In Scotland, pink salmon were found to have spawned successfully producing viable eggs that hatched into fry (juvenile fish).

Seven pink salmon were subsequently recorded by anglers in or close to English rivers. Four of which were seen in the North East of England including the River Wear, River Tyne and the River Coquet with other specimens recorded as far west as the Hampshire Avon in Dorset. Pacific pink salmon were originally introduced to a number of Russian rivers in the 1960s and have slowly spread westwards colonising additional rivers in northern Norway.

Owing to the two year life cycle of this species, 2019 will be the first year that we can expect to see these fish return in numbers.

If anglers or commercial netsmen do catch a Pacific pink salmon then the Environment Agency would love to hear from you, as we are interested in monitoring their numbers and distribution at a regional and national scale. This year so far, there have been seven confirmed incidences of pink salmon across the UK and the Republic of Ireland – one in Wales, one in Ireland, three in Scotland and two in a T net set to catch sea trout off the Northumbrian coast. These numbers accompany the earlier sightings recorded back in 2017.

Jonathan Shelley, Net Fishery Programme Manager at the Environment Agency, said:

From examining the specimens that were captured and recovered two years ago by the Environment Agency, no notable disease or novel parasites were detected. However, we need to remain watchful and continue to investigate the possible risk of undesirable consequences arising from the presence of this species. It is anticipated more pink salmon will be observed over the coming weeks and fisheries managers, anglers and netsmen are requested to remain vigilant, particularly if fishing in the lower reaches of the river systems.  Fisheries management organisations across the UK are sharing advice to ensure that any appearance of pink salmon in England can be monitored and managed appropriately. Click here to read more