Country diary: Helping salmon make the leap | Tim Earl

Laxey, Isle of Man: I'm lucky to see my first ever wild Atlantic salmon, but it's no fluke that they are present in our riversYou need a little luck to see some species of wildlife, and fortune was on my side as I peered into the River Laxey on the Isle of Man's east coast. There below me, holding in a pool, was the first wild Atlantic salmon I've ever seen.At this time of year, salmon run up the Laxey to return to their breeding grounds, and the locals aren't far behind - angling for them and sea trout in the rivers forms part of the government's unseen economy. The thing that I needed to look closely at was the tail: if it was square-cut, the fish was a sea trout, but in this case, the concave fin was conclusive. Continue reading...