The Last Salmon

Norway.  The legendary land of the giant salmon has been struggling of late, not least in the face of so many salmon farms throttling its beautiful coastline, but fishery and lodge owners are fighting back, trying to do what they can to preserve the wild salmon in Norway.
 
Ann-Britt Bogen from Gaula Fly Fishing Friends, and Matt Hayes, one of the UK’s most famous anglers who now lives full time with his wife and family running a salmon lodge in Norway, join Jim to tell him how the 2025 salmon season played out on their beloved and prestigious Gaula river, their efforts at introducing new regulations and a new mindset towards catch and release and why, despite it all, if you want to catch a big salmon, there is still nowhere else quite like Norway.

The Last Salmon Season 2 is supported by The Missing Salmon Alliance.
  

 The Last Salmon, presented by actor and salmon activist, Jim Murray MBE, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild salmon.  

For regular updates, follow the show at Instagram.com/TheLastSalmon.

Rewilding.  It’s about taking a step back and leaving nature alone.  

But, in the 21st century how can it be achieved?

Ben Goldsmith certainly believes it can – and must be done - and he is one of its foremost champions.

It was through tragedy however, after the death of his teenage daughter, Iris, when she was just 15, that, in grieving, Ben found solace and hope through the embrace of nature.

And ever since, he has been on a mission to increase rewilding initiatives throughout the UK and. abroad, and he has his own podcast, Rewilding the World, highlighting the success stories on these shores and around the world.

Ben joins Jim on the latest episode of The Last Salmon to explain how rewilding can help save the wild salmon and some of the practises that need to be put in place for it to happen.

For more from Ben visit:
https://www.youtube.com/@BenGoldsmithRewilding

The Last Salmon Season 2 is supported by The Missing Salmon Alliance.
  
Image: https://atlanticsalmontrust.org

The Last Salmon, presented by actor and salmon activist, Jim Murray MBE, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild salmon.  

For regular updates, follow the show at Instagram.com/TheLastSalmon.

Midst the doom and gloom about the future of wild salmon, we have to believe - and have faith - that our collective actions – be it through conservation efforts, awareness campaigns, political lobbying – can and will have an effect.

And it is for the long term, for the next generation, that we really have to be thinking about wild salmon and for the sport of fly fishing for salmon itself.

This week on the Last Salmon I’m joined by two fanatical lifelong fly anglers who are not only hugely influential, but they have taken the brave move to run a salmon fishery in the north of England at the famous Bywell.

So why do it?  Why risk it all?  For the husband and wife team of Stephan Dombaj and Marina Dombaj née Gibson, they care and believe so much in the future of the salmon that this is their way of trying to protect the species they love.

And it’s not just about the fishing, as they explain, it’s about showing the next generation why fighting to save the wild salmon is so important……

The Last Salmon Season 2 is supported by The Missing Salmon Alliance.
 
 Image courtesy of: https://www.instagram.com/bywellsalmonfishing/

The Last Salmon, presented by actor and salmon activist, Jim Murray MBE, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild salmon.  

For regular updates, follow the show at Instagram.com/TheLastSalmon.

We know salmon numbers are down and we know there’s an existential threat endangering their very future, but this week on the Last Salmon, Jim Murray finds out why the Outer Hebrides could be the UK’s salmon stronghold. 

Jim speaks to the chair of the Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust, Richard Davies, who believes that their engagement with fish farms on the Isle of Lewis has resulted in helping the survival of wild salmon there.

As listeners to The Last Salmon podcast know, salmon farms are polluting the environment and causing irreparable damage to wild salmon stocks and that currently they have very little interest in doing anything to help.

However, Richard is one of the most passionate salmon conservationists we know and he will do anything to help save the wild salmon in the Outer Hebrides and beyond, so we had to speak to him and to hear his side of the argument - and of course hear more about the incredible fly fishing place that is the Outer Hebrides.

Richard also pays tribute to two old fishing friends, Kenny and Arthur, who are no longer with us, and who epitomised the kindness and determination of good fly anglers and good people.

To find out more about the Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust go to:
https://www.outerhebridesfisheriestrust.org.uk/

And to see Richard's incredible salmon footage visit:
https://www.instagram.com/racdavies_photos/

The Last Salmon Season 2 is supported by The Missing Salmon Alliance.

Image courtesy of: Richard Davies

The Last Salmon, presented by actor and salmon activist, Jim Murray MBE, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild salmon.  

For regular updates, follow the show at Instagram.com/TheLastSalmon.

Is a river alive?  What a question….it throws up so many if, buts, maybes, but most importantly, why not?

Rivers helped save me, and I truly believe they are our lifeblood, our circulation, our healing waters.  

But they also need saving now in these troubled times of extraction, industrialisation and pollution.

To kick off Season 2, we’re taking the big picture view when it comes to rivers, and we’re asking shouldn’t the rights of nature be respected in our laws and constitutions?  If a limited company can have legal rights why then can’t our rivers?  

Without our rivers, without due care, without oversight…..well, we all know what can and is happening in terms of water quality and how that is affecting us all, not least of all the wild salmon.

So to help with some of these existential questions, celebrated nature writer, Rob Macfarlane joins me to discuss how he set out on journeys around the globe, from Ecuador to India and Canada, and finally to his own home waters in Cambridge, to ask is a river alive?

The Last Salmon Season 2 is supported by The Missing Salmon Alliance.

Image: Richard Davies via https://www.instagram.com/racdavies_photos/

The Last Salmon, presented by actor and salmon activist, Jim Murray MBE, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild salmon.  

For regular updates, follow the show at Instagram.com/TheLastSalmon.

Wild salmon are in a perilous state.  But we can’t and won’t give up.

The Last Salmon with Jim Murray is back for another season, launching July 25th, addressing the problems and hearing from all sides of the argument, to find the solutions to help save our wild salmon.

It’s not too late, the salmon haven’t give up, and nor can we.

The Last Salmon, presented by actor, artist and activist, Jim Murray, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild Atlantic salmon.

Listen and follow on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts, and for regular updates, follow the show at Instagram.com/TheLastSalmon.

Chef and sustainable food activist, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, joins Jim Murray for a special Christmas episode of The Last Salmon podcast explaining why farmed salmon should not be on your Christmas dinner table this or any year.

‘We need to hold the industry to account and provide people with alternatives,’ says Hugh.  ‘The way you spend your money is a vote.  Consumers have the power to affect change.’

Hugh is also critical of celebrity chefs and the media who promote and use farmed salmon.

‘Once chefs have the opportunity,’ he tells Jim. ‘And it’s often a very well-paid opportunity, to appear on television and talk about food, sell their books and promote their various businesses, that increases their responsibility to think about the quality and sustainability of the produce that they’re using and that they’re communicating to the public about.’

Hugh has a long record of opposition to farmed salmon that is unsustainably produced and he tells Jim why a bass will be coming out of his freezer for Christmas instead.  Plus he has some great tips and recipe ideas for alternatives for the dinner table this Christmas.

Image: RiverCottage.net

The Last Salmon, presented by actor, artist and activist, Jim Murray, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild Atlantic salmon.

For regular updates, follow the show at Instagram.com/TheLastSalmon.

For the final episode of the first series of The Last Salmon, Daire and Jim revisit Iceland and the issue of the regulation and future of salmon farms which Iceland’s politicians are currently drafting new legislation for.

Elvar Fridriksson, Iceland’s Programme Director of The North Atlantic Salmon Fund, and Jasper Pääkkönen, actor, angler and passionate conservationist, rejoin Daire and Jim with an update, and they tell of legislation being watered down and politicians ignoring the public will.

‘The fight must go on,’ is their impassioned plea and they urge people to sign the petition at LetsUndoThis.com to help in the fight to save the wild Atlantic salmon.

#thelastsalmon #fightforthewildsalmon

Image: nasf.is

 
The Last Salmon, presented by actor, artist and activist, Jim Murray, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild Atlantic salmon.

Internationally renowned fishery scientist, Ken Whelan, issues a call to action on the latest episode of The Last Salmon.

He says that ranching can and will work to help improve salmon numbers in relation to supporting a rod fishery for anglers and he explains to us the background to its successful development and implementation – albeit with caveats and cautions.

Likening it to racehorse breeding, he points to the Burrishoole ranching programme and the work of Dr. David Piggins and says this is the model that can be followed for supporting a rod fishery in lieu of wild stock.

Whilst wild fish conservation measures must continue to be carried out, drastic and innovative action is needed, says Ken, if we are not to see entire salmon stocks disappear.

Image: Burrishoole Fishery

#thelastsalmon #fightforthewildsalmon

 
The Last Salmon, presented by actor, artist and activist, Jim Murray, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild Atlantic salmon.

Hatcheries.  It’s a contentious issue amongst the salmon angling community and with numbers of salmon continuing to drop, more and more anglers are asking can and should it be introduced to their river?

For this week’s episode of The Last Salmon, we wanted to find out more about the pros, cons, nuances and science behind it and are joined by David Summers, Fisheries Director of the Tay Fisheries Board, where they run the very successful Kelt Reconditioning Project

and Professor Phil McGinnity at UCC who has been working in fisheries research and management for more than quarter of a century.

Image: tayrivers.org

#thelastsalmon #fightforthewildsalmon

 
The Last Salmon, presented by actor, artist and activist, Jim Murray, offers hope and solutions to the tragic story that is unfolding for an iconic species in crisis - the wild Atlantic salmon.