The data used for the diagram shown below was taken from H A Gilbert's book "the Tale of a Wye Fisherman" and shows the total of rod and estuary net catches for Wye fishery district from 1905 until 1951. There were only 2713 fish caught in 1906 and there is no rod catch figure for 1905 but the graph does show a revival peaking at 9,946 salmon caught in 1913. The best year was 1927 with 10,807 catches recorded. Another notable year was 1935 when 10,311 salmon were caught.
The second chart uses data provided on the the Environment Agency Website and the figures are approximate and can only be used for comparison purposes.
This shows the steady decline of salmon catches but with some good figures in 1972 and 1975 followed by drops in 1976 and 1982 due to drought conditions and high fish mortality. No doubt UDN (Ulceral Dermal Necrosis) also played its part in reducing stocks after 1968. There are no net returns for after 2000 because most of the estuary netting was bought out by the Wye and Usk Foundation, hence even lower figures were recorded for the beginning of this century. In 2008 the salmon count was approximately 1100 fish for the Wye and a large proportion of these were released.