Asturias has kicked off a new salmon fishing season marked by significantly stricter regulations to protect the species. The season begins this Saturday and will run until July 15, with reduced catch limits and increased surveillance of the Principality's salmon rivers, including operations against poaching.
In this context of increased regulation, the Regional Ministry of Rural Affairs and Agricultural Policy has granted 3.739 specific salmon fishing licenses , in addition to interregional permits and trout fishing authorizations. The stated objective of the regional government is to reconcile a deeply rooted tradition in rural Asturias with the preservation of increasingly fragile river ecosystems.
Licenses for salmon, trout and interregional permits
For this season, the Principality has issued 3.739 salmon fishing licenses , a figure very close to last year's, although with slight reductions that point to a more restrictive scenario. These licenses allow participation in the salmon season, both in catch-and-keep and catch-and-release fishing, under conditions comparable to the inland fishing season in Galicia.
In parallel, the Regional Ministry has authorized 1.499 interregional licenses , which allow salmon and trout fishing in different autonomous communities under reciprocal agreements. In addition, 6.184 specific trout licenses have been issued , confirming that freshwater fishing remains a very popular activity among anglers.
The data was detailed by the Director General of Agricultural Planning, Marcos da Rocha , during the inauguration of the 26th Salmon Fair-Capenastur in Cornellana (Salas), a key event for fishermen, restaurateurs, and residents of salmon farming areas. In his address, the regional official emphasized that the new river fishing regulations aim to balance recreational activity with the prudent management of resources.
The Administration emphasizes that, despite maintaining a significant number of licenses, the focus is shifting towards greater limitations on catches and fishing effort , in line with technical recommendations on the state of the stocks.
A 75% cut in catches and a global quota of 154 salmon
The main change this season is the drastic 75% reduction in permitted salmon catches compared to last year. The overall limit has been lowered from 620 fish to a maximum of 154 for the entire Principality this year.
The limit is also stricter for each angler: every angler will have an individual annual quota of two salmon , but only one of them can be caught and killed. In practice, the possible combinations are restricted to "one caught and one kept" or "two kept." After that, the license holder will no longer be able to tag any more salmon that season.
Once the annual quota for each river is reached , anglers with assigned fishing areas will only be able to practice catch and release. In other words, the activity will continue, but the possibility of keeping more fish will be eliminated once the limit for that river basin has been reached.
The regional government justifies this restrictive shift based on available technical reports, which indicate a sharp decline in the number of adult salmon in Asturian rivers compared to previous decades, as well as a significant drop in the number of fish tagged in recent years. At the same time, these studies point to some improvement in juvenile recruitment, a finding that encourages strengthening the protection of breeding stock to consolidate the recovery.
Quota allocation by river basin: Nalón-Narcea leads in catches
The overall limit of 154 salmon is distributed among the main salmon river basins of Asturias , with a system that prioritizes those with the longest tradition and historical presence of the species. The breakdown is as follows:
- Nalón-Narcea: 60 salmon, with a maximum of 25 in the free zone.
- Sella-Piloña: 52 salmon, with a limit of 21 in the free zone.
- Cares-Deva: 30 salmon, of which up to 12 may be caught in the free zone.
- Esva: 5 salmon.
- Eo: 7 salmon.
The Nalón-Narcea basin remains the leading salmon fishing area in Asturias, both in terms of the number of fishing licenses and the allocated quota. It is closely followed by the Sella-Piloña system, with a long tradition of fishing for the first salmon of the season (known as the "campanu") and significant tourism related to salmon fishing.
The regulations include a flexibility clause: if before the 10 June A good influx of salmon into the rivers has been observed; these quotas may increase by up to 30%The decision will be based on previous counts and monitoring in selected wells, which allow for an assessment of the actual volume. de peces going up the basins.
In contrast to the peaks reached in the past, when thousands of salmon were caught annually, current figures reflect a scenario of historic lows in catches , which requires a much more cautious management of the resource.
Shorter hours and adjustments to the fishing day
Along with the reduction in quotas, the campaign introduces changes to the daily fishing schedule . The morning session is delayed by half an hour compared to the previous season, while the late afternoon session is also brought forward by thirty minutes, which in practice reduces the total time on the river by one hour.
This modification aims to improve visibility and safety conditions , both for the fishermen themselves and for the officers who monitor compliance with the regulations. The reduction in fishing time is also seen as a way to decrease pressure on salmon populations during key periods of their migration.
The salmon fishing season, valid for both catch and release , runs from its opening this Saturday until Wednesday, July 15. The start date has been set slightly later than in previous years, reflecting the observed trend of salmon arriving later in Asturian waterways.
This delayed opening aims to give the first fish that swim upstream more time to reach refuge and spawning areas without immediate fishing pressure, thus helping to strengthen reproductive success.
New fishing reserves, extended fishing seasons and refuges for salmon
The new river fishing regulations are not limited to quotas and schedules: they also redraw the map of fishing reserves and closed areas to increase the protection of the most sensitive sections of the rivers.
In the main salmon fishing section of the Narcea River , one of the most emblematic in Asturias, fishing will only be permitted in designated areas starting June 1st. This will allow for a more protected portion of the initial salmon run, with more controlled access and limited capacity.
Furthermore, fishing bans are being extended to the upper reaches of rivers: from June 15th , all upper reaches of salmon rivers will be closed to fishing. The aim is to create natural refuges where salmon migrating upstream can congregate and reproduce undisturbed.
These measures are in addition to the restrictions already in place in other parts of the basins and reinforce a management approach that prioritizes the creation of corridors and pressure-free areas , considered essential for populations to have real options for recovery in the medium and long term.
At the same time, the Administration points out that controlling access and respecting fishing bans will be key to the strategy's success, so a reinforced deployment of surveillance is planned for the busiest riverbanks.
Recent context: fewer salmon, more restrictions
The Regional Ministry's decisions come against a backdrop of a significant decline in salmon populations in Asturias and throughout the Cantabrian Sea. The number of fishing tags and spawning stocks has steadily decreased in recent decades, falling far short of the levels recorded in the second half of the 20th century, as documented in the history of marine fishing.
While decades ago thousands of salmon were caught annually , with fishing seasons yielding several thousand, the current reality reflects a sharp decline. Data from recent seasons indicate increasingly lower quotas and tags, with recent years seeing barely over a hundred officially registered specimens across the entire Principality.
The technical studies consulted by the regional government highlight the loss of river habitat , obstacles to migration, water quality, historical fishing pressure, and the impact of climate change on river flows and temperatures as key factors. Given this situation, experts recommend stricter conservation policies.
In this context, the "campanu"—the first salmon legally caught in the season—has become a symbol of the fragility of the resource and of the fishing tradition itself . Although it continues to generate excitement and is auctioned off among restaurants and cider houses, the timing of its capture is becoming increasingly uncertain, similar to the start of the fishing season in Galicia.
The start of the campaign without a trace of the first specimen, something that has already happened in other years, is interpreted as an additional sign of the decline in numbers and the delay in the entry of salmon into the rivers, even though the flow conditions may be favorable.
Overall, the new salmon season in Asturias begins with 3.739 licenses granted, severely reduced quotas, shortened hours, and more closed areas , creating a scenario where fishing is still possible, but under much stricter rules. The government's strategy is to sustain this emblematic activity of rural Asturias while simultaneously trying to give salmon populations a respite during one of their most critical periods.
