An angler fishing the River Spey in Scotland has hooked and landed a thankfully very rare, invasive pink salmon.
These fish originate from the North Pacific Ocean and can be identified by large black oval spots on their tails, very dark mouths and tongues, and much smaller scales than Atlantic salmon. Their body shape also tends to be more pronounced in the shoulder/back region.
Pink salmon pose various threats to our already under-pressure Atlantic salmon by bullying fish off potential spawning grounds and introducing new parasites to the ecosystem.
The particular capture in question was taken away by a fishery biologist for testing, but the advice is that any pink salmon caught should be killed and removed from the river swiftly and immediately reported to the river fishery board from which it was caught, or the Environment Agency/Defra, so that it can be dealt with.
It is also illegal to take pink salmon home so please do follow the protocol if you happen to catch one.
IF YOU CATCH A PACIFIC/PINK SALMON YOU CAN CALL THIS HOTLINE: 0800 80 70 60
