Salmon catches 2022 – Preliminary figures

The total number of caught salmon in 2022 was about 45,300, which is about a 24.2% (8800 salmon) increase from 2021 and about 8.5% above the average catch of the years since 1974. 

If the fishing is examined by regions, the catches in all of them were higher than in the summer of 2021, except in the Westfjords. 

Angling for salmon in Icelandic rivers from 1974 – 2022. The catch is divided into landed catch and catch and release, on the one hand for wild salmon and on the other hand for sea pastured salmon. Horizontal broken line is annual mean salmon catch from 1974-2022, blue is catch of wild salmon, green is wild salmon released, red is catch of ocean-grazed salmon, and purple is ocean-grazed salmon released (hafogvatn.is)

When comparing the long-term development of angling, it must be taken into account that salmon from smolt releases (ocean-grazed salmon) supplement the natural production of the rivers, in addition to the fact that some fish are caught more than once when caught and released in angling. Salmon fishing is therefore divided into salmon of wild origin, salmon originating from releases of smolts and salmon that are released back when angling; C & R. Wild salmon fishing has been below the long-term average (1974-2021) for the last seven years with a minimum in 2019 when only 24,078 salmon were caught. Salmon fishing in rivers that are based on fishing on smolt releases was a total of 10,500 salmon in the summer of 2022, which is 2,700 salmon more than was caught in 2021, when 7,764 salmon were caught. 

Picture/Veiðiheimar

News based on information from Haf&Vatn