Scotland has signed off fresh salmon rules for the 2026 season. The Conservation of Salmon (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 were made on 4 December 2025, laid before the Scottish Parliament on 8 December, and come into force on 1 April 2026. The instrument replaces Schedule 2 of the 2016 regulations, updating the list of inland waters where any salmon caught must be returned.

For anglers, the headline is simple: in the waters listed in the new schedule you cannot keep a salmon. It must be released immediately and with least possible harm. That sits alongside an existing, long‑standing ban on retaining salmon in coastal waters, with breaches of regulation 3 treated as an offence under the 2016 regulations.

Ministers adjust these rules annually because salmon stocks are assessed each year. Where a catchment is graded in poor status, mandatory catch and release follows; where stocks are healthier, limited taking may be permitted. Marine Scotland consults on the proposals and then updates the law for the following season, which is what this 2025 order now does for 2026.

The schedule itself runs to dozens of named coastal stretches and island outflows, described precisely by headlands and grid references so beats, lochs and sea lochs know where they stand. It covers large areas around the Sound of Mull, Cromarty and Moray Firths, parts of Skye and the Small Isles, the Clyde sea lochs and wide sections of the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland.

As in previous years, some coastal zones list explicit carve‑outs for named rivers that are regulated separately within those catchments. Recent schedules have included exclusions around big east‑coast systems such as the Spey, Dee, Tay and Thurso within certain coastal stretches, while keeping the no‑retain rule in the surrounding outflows. The overall approach continues: protect weak stocks and keep the map up to date.

What changed on paper this time? Ministers have substituted the whole of Schedule 2 again and recorded amendments to paragraphs 7, 21, 22, 34, 37, 61 and 76. Most readers won’t work off grid points; the practical step is to check your club, fishery board or beat guidance for 2026 before you travel.

This matters south of the Border too. Many Northern anglers head to Dumfries and Galloway, Argyll, the Highlands or the islands each spring, and plenty of guides and tackle shops in Cumbria, Lancashire and the North East build their year around that trade. Note that the River Tweed is managed under its own order, so Tweed rules are set separately even as Scottish conservation measures tighten elsewhere.

The conservation drive isn’t abstract. Scotland’s wild salmon have taken a hammering, with spring fish in some rivers now scarce. Work on the Dee, for example, has highlighted steep declines and prompted habitat and restoration efforts, underlining why government keeps the legal backstop tight.

Enforcement remains clear. Under the 2016 framework, retaining a salmon where the law says release is mandatory is an offence, with penalties on summary conviction up to level 4 on the standard scale. Most clubs and proprietors already insist on single, barbless hooks and careful handling; those habits will matter even more as 1 April nears.

For planning purposes, fix three dates in the diary: signed on 4 December 2025, laid on 8 December 2025, live from 1 April 2026. If you’re booking a spring or summer week on the west coast, the Clyde, the Hebrides or the far north, assume catch‑and‑release in the listed waters and confirm details with the local District Salmon Fishery Board before you set off.

If you want the fine print, the full schedule-complete with map references, named headlands and river exclusions-is published on legislation.gov.uk. It’s dry reading, but it gives certainty for anglers, ghillies and businesses across rural Scotland and the North who depend on a clear rulebook each season.

Finally, a note on continuity. Ministers also overhauled Schedule 2 for the 2025 season, showing how the map can shift year to year as new data comes in. This latest update follows that annual pattern and signals another year in which conservation will shape bookings and tactics more than trophies.