The Salmon Net Fishing Association of Scotland was established in Aberdeen in 1906 by owners and lessees of salmon fishings on the east coast of Scotland, and is Scotland’s oldest fishermen’s organisation.
The Association’s objectives include defending, protecting and advancing the interests of salmon net fishing in Scotland, encouraging scientific research, and rendering assistance to those engaged in this work.
All rights of salmon fishing in Scotland, whether in fresh water or in the sea, are held as private, heritable titles. Originally all owned by the Crown, over the years many have been conveyed to individuals by written Crown grants, and may be bought, sold or leased. Thus, today’s netsmen are either owners or tenants of the fisheries they operate, in the same way as the operators of rod fisheries. Where they differ is in the methods they use to catch salmon. In 2008 the netsmen’s share of all the salmon reported caught in Scotland was 13%.