The River Tweed Atlantic salmon population is among the largest in the UK and one of the most significant in Europe. In 2024, anglers caught nearly 10,000 Atlantic salmon, indicating an estimated population of around 100,000 adults returning from the sea to spawn in their natal streams and rivers. These iconic fish hold exceptional cultural, ecological, and economic importance within the River Tweed system, including the Wooler Water.
Atlantic salmon have been present in the Tweed since the last ice age, and as humans settled in the area the species became embedded in local culture and subsistence. Early evidence of this cultural link includes a Pictish stone engraved with a salmon near Roberton, Hawick, and a salmon hook discovered at the Roman site of Trimontium near Melrose, indicating long-standing fishing activity.
Today, Atlantic salmon are classified as a threatened species by the IUCN due to poor marine feeding conditions and declining survival at sea and, in response, all Atlantic salmon caught in the Tweed Fisheries District must be released. A central management priority is also to maximise the number of healthy smolts leaving the river by addressing pressures identified in the Scottish Wild Salmon Strategy. One of the most cost-effective actions to achieve this goal is improving access to natural spawning and rearing habitat through barrier removal.
Over the last two centuries, sustained management by the River Tweed Commission has opened previously obstructed river sections to migratory fish as well as closely controlling the operation of the Atlantic salmon fishery within the Tweed catchment. The River Till catchment once contained numerous weirs, known locally as caulds, which blocked Atlantic salmon migration. Many have now been removed and today, Haugh Head Ford remains the last significant barrier to Atlantic salmon migration in the Tweed District (in the video below you can see returning Atlantic salmon attempting to migrate upstream past the Ford structure). Removing Haugh Head Ford would represent a major step forward for Atlantic salmon conservation in the Tweed catchment as the Wooler Water is particularly valuable – many lower stretches of the Rivers Till and Glen contain unproductive sandy substrates with limited spawning potential. Removing the Ford will improve the river’s ecological status, support local angling-based economies, restore natural river processes and enable upstream migration for other important fish such as sea trout.
The “Final Hurdle” film below (also featured on the main Reconnecting the Wooler Water page), outlines many of the issues facing Atlantic salmon throughout the Tweed catchment, as well as the challenges faced more locally within the Wooler Water.