Buying and selling salmon and sea trout in Wales: staying within the law
It is against the law to buy, sell, offer to sell or barter:
- any wild salmon
- sea trout caught by rod and line
- unclean sea trout
- sea trout taken during the close season
These offences apply to whole fish and portions of fish.
None of these offences apply to farmed salmon or farmed sea trout.
Identify legally caught sea trout
It is easy to identify legally caught (net caught) sea trout.
Legally net caught sea trout in Wales will always have a Natural Resources Wales carcass tag attached through its mouth and gills. In England, it will have an Environment Agency carcass tag.
Illegally caught sea trout will not have a carcass tag attached to it and may have:
- spear or gaff wounds (puncture wounds)
- snare marks (dark ring around the base of the tail)
- gill net marks (distinctive dark lines around or across the body of the fish)
Identify unclean fish
An ‘unclean’ fish is one that is about to spawn, is spawning, or has recently spawned and has not yet recovered.
These fish can be a dark colour with red spots on their gill covers. Their fins may be ragged, and eggs or milt (a white milky substance) may run from the vent. Unclean fish are not good to eat.
You will be breaking the law if you buy or sell unclean fish.
Close seasons
Different parts of Wales and England have different close seasons.
Check the freshwater rod fishing rules (byelaws) for Wales.
Check the freshwater rod fishing rules (byelaws) for England.
Net fishers may only take sea trout (between May and July in Wales).
All salmon caught in net and rod fisheries in Wales must be returned alive and unharmed as quickly as possible.
Buying and selling salmon and sea trout
If you buy and sell imported farmed and net caught salmon or sea trout, it will not have a Natural Resources Wales (or Environment Agency) carcass tag. No wild salmon from England, Wales or Scotland can be sold.
Wild sea trout are still landed in England and Wales and will have a carcass tag.
For proof of where these fish have come from, ask the seller for a signed receipt that shows:
- seller’s name and address
- how many fish were sold, and their tag identification numbers
- how the fish were caught
- name and licence number of the person that caught the fish
Report concerns
Contact our incident hotline if you are offered salmon or sea trout you suspect have been caught illegally or are unclean.