''Sanford has done this because of the company's desire to improve the recreational salmon fishery for anglers, and it hopes its action gives people a better chance of catching a fish this summer,'' Mr Webb said.
He said it was ''highly unusual'' for one trawler to catch so many salmon in one trip, given that in recent years salmon by-catch had been very low and generally only about 300kg of salmon was caught by the whole fleet across the entire year.
Last weekend's catch of 22 wild salmon was notable in that, in past years, when reported salmon by-catch had been relatively high, so was the return of salmon to rivers to spawn, which could be good news for anglers in coming months, Mr Webb said.
simon.hartley@odt.co.nz