by BILL HEANEY
A week of action to target fish poaching begins on Monday, 19 October, 2026, with the aim of safeguarding species across the country.
Operation Salmo will see officers carrying out joint patrols with river bailiffs and working with partners, including Fisheries Management Scotland and district Salmon Fishery Boards.
Loch Lomond and its tributary rivers, including the Endrick, Frui and Leven, are included in the plans for the crackdown.
Fish poaching threatens the nation’s iconic salmon population, which is declining, as well as other species. Such activity can devastate fragile river ecosystems, damage local biodiversity and harm rural livelihoods that depend on sustainable angling and tourism.
Detective Sergeant David Lynn, National Wildlife Crime Co-ordinator at Police Scotland, said: “We are working with partners to protect fish in our rivers, lochs, reservoirs and along our coastline.
“While some people don’t view fish poaching as a serious offence, Scotland’s wild fish are protected by law. Taking them without the proper permits or permission is illegal.
“Penalties for such poaching offences are due to increase under the Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2026. I would like to remind anyone minded to carry out this kind of crime that we will not hesitate to take enforcement action.
“The public has a vital role to play in protecting our waterways, and I would encourage anyone who sees anything suspicious to contact us via 101
Top of page: Salmon in the Endrick at Potts of Gartness. Picture by Stewart Cunningham.
It might be a better idea to curtail the pollution that is kllling our rivers and burns.
The watercourse around Auchencarroch once used to teem with fish, and bailiffs too. But pollution from the Auchencarroch landfill has site has killed these watercourses of fish. That the testing of the water year on year revealed toxic discharge grossly in excess of the specified safe limits, SEPA did nothing.
So it’s a bit rich, all this bumf about protecting fish. Like the dumping of waste. Money talks.