Both ASF's Canadian and U.S. Boards of Directors agreed to and passed this resolution at the Atlantic Salmon Federation's mid-November meetings in New York. ASF's Boards called on ASF and the conservation community to bring about a total ban on the use of gill nets everywhere in the North Atlantic, especially in rivers and estuaries frequented by wild Atlantic salmon.
Large fish are the most critical component of a healthy salmon run.
Delegates failed to reach a consensus on this issue. The Irish drift net fishery is the most damaging, taking more than 150,000 salmon a year from a wide range of European stocks. The north east drift net fishery in England and Wales, which is slowly being phased out, averages an annual catch of around 30,000 salmon. Thousands more salmon are slaughtered in illegal nets each year. While Canada does not allow a commercial fishery, it does allow the use of gill nets in many streams and rivers.