Fishing has always been popular in Scotland’s rivers, and Scottish salmon is one of the most famous catches in the world, providing sport for thousands of locals and attracting anglers from around the globe. River angling alone is worth more than £75 million per year to the Scottish economy.

The Crown Estate owns the rights to salmon fishings on many rivers in Scotland, leasing them to both associations and private individuals. With the exception of those purchased with the Fochabers, Glenlivet and Applegirth estates, these salmon fishings form part of the regalia minora and are a property right for which the title can be transferred separately from land. This means the right is not necessarily bound to the land where the fishings are located, and so even when the shore or riverbank is privately owned, fishings may still be vested in the Crown. The right includes both salmon and sea trout, known collectively as migratory fish.

In practice, we may or may not own the foreshore associated with our coastal salmon fisheries, but there is no ownership of land where we have river salmon fishing rights – with the exception of those on the rural estates mentioned above.

The salmon fishing interests also include coastal netting rights, and are widely distributed throughout Scotland from the Borders to Caithness, although none of these is now operated commercially.

River Fishings

There are close to 140 river salmon fishing tenancies, including more than a third with angling clubs or associations, with the remainder predominantly let to the owners of adjacent riverbanks. Many of the leases held by associations and clubs are of extensive lengths of water whereas many of the leases granted to riparian owners are of limited extent.

Our tenancies cover a wide range of rivers, including prolific and relatively valuable beats such as that on the Allan Water near Dunblane, which is let to the local angling association. There are also tenancies on attractive rivers such as the Findhorn, the Stinchar and the Teith, in addition to fisheries of nominal value, like those on the Midlothian Almond and the Forth.

In each tenancy there are restrictions upon the number of rods that may fish at any one time, to guard against overfishing, and the tenant is required to comply with any conservation measures put forward by the relevant District Salmon Fishery Board or similar authority.

For conservation purposes long-term leases of headwaters fisheries have been granted in favour of the River Tweed Commissioners to enable them to protect valuable spawning stock from exploitation.

The River Clyde

The majority of the salmon fishing interests on the River Clyde and its tributaries (excluding the River Leven and Loch Lomond) form part of The Crown Estate.

The salmon population of the Clyde has improved dramatically over recent years. This is attributed to several factors – improvement in water quality; The Crown Estate policy of encouraging local angling clubs whose dedication to improving their own rivers has been key; and improved management through some financial support. The net effect of this is that the Clyde now enjoys a substantial run of salmon and grilse and is becoming a significant sporting salmon fishery after many years of decline.

Coastal Netting Stations

There are three tenancies of coastal netting stations, and none are actively fished. Since the late 1980s The Crown Estate has supported a policy of conservation by retaining coastal netting stations in hand and unlet. Modest payments of District Fishery Board assessments are still charged on some of these coastal fishings through which further contributions are made by The Crown Estate to the conservation of wild salmon stocks.

Contact Us

For further information on Scottish salmon fishings, please contact our managing agent:

Sir Robert Clerk
Smiths Gore
12 Bernard Street
Edinburgh
EH6 5PY

telephone 01968 677 443 (direct) / 0131 555 1200 (office)

Further information on other local agents can be found on the Agents page.

For further information on our Scottish holdings, please visit our Scotland page.