The Last Salmon

What happens when a riverkeeper who has spent 37 years fighting to protect his beloved River Test comes face-to-face with the CEO of Southern Water? In this episode of The Last Salmon , we bring together veteran riverkeeper, Donny Donovan, and Southern Water CEO, Lawrence Gosden, for a frank and sometimes uncomfortable conversation about the future of one of Britain's most iconic chalk streams. Do...

Professor Ken Whelan returns to The Last Salmon for a deep dive into what happens to Atlantic salmon once they leave our rivers and head out into the North Atlantic. For decades, the ocean was the great unknown in the salmon story. Then projects such as SALSEA began to reveal extraordinary migration routes stretching from Ireland, Britain and mainland Europe towards the Norwegian Sea, the Faroes a...

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia’s Kola Peninsula became one of the most extraordinary salmon fishing destinations on earth. Julian Pullan, author of Right Place, Right Time: The Pursuit and Protection of Salmon , joins Jim Murray to look back on an era when pioneering anglers travelled into some of the most remote rivers in the world in search of wild Atlantic salmon. Julian made 19 tri...

Can saving the wild Atlantic salmon begin at sea? Hugo Tagholm, former CEO of Surfers Against Sewage and now Executive Director of Oceana UK, joins Jim to explore the growing pressures facing our oceans — and what they mean for the future of wild salmon. Hugo discusses the environmental impact of open-net salmon farming, the scale of industrial fishing, the continued use of bottom trawling inside...

For more than 30 years, Andrew Flitcroft, former Editor of Trout & Salmon, and now Editor of The Take, Loop Tackle's new digital magazine, has watched salmon fishing shift from an era when success was measured by how many fish you caught — and killed — to one where catching a single wild Atlantic salmon can feel like a privilege. In this episode of The Last Salmon, Andrew joins Jim Murray to r...

Ross Brawn has spent a lifetime solving some of the world's toughest engineering challenges. As the Formula 1 mastermind behind championship-winning teams at Benetton, Ferrari, Brawn GP and Mercedes, he knows that success isn't built on guesswork—it's built on preparation, innovation and data. In this episode of The Last Salmon , Ross joins Jim Murray beside his beloved River Itchen to explore an...

Stand-up comedian, wildlife biologist and fly angler Eeland Stribling explains why making people laugh isn't a distraction from conservation - it's one of its most powerful tools.  Humour, he says, lowers people's defences, opens the door to difficult conversations, and helps audiences hear ideas they might otherwise ignore. As Eeland puts it: "If you can make people laugh, people are more engaged...

Following our conversation with Mowi Scotland Managing Director, Ben Hadfield , we invited two people with first-hand experience of Scotland's salmon farming industry to respond. Joining us are Nick Underdown , Scotland Director at WildFish, and Ailsa McLellan , a former salmon farm worker who now lives beside a Mowi salmon farm on Scotland's west coast. Together they examine many of the claims ma...

Here on The Last Salmon we’re as sceptical of salmon farming as you can get without needing therapy but we also think it's important that we hear their side of the story.   And their big wigs are usually so publicity shy that they make vampires look sociable.    Mowi are the biggest player in the salmon farming industry in the world and Ben Hadfield is the MD of Mowi Scotland and the CEO of Mowi C...

On Wild Salmon Day, Jim Murray returns with the first episode of Season 3, bringing together three leading voices from across the North Atlantic to discuss the future of wild Atlantic salmon. Joining Jim are Marina Gibson from the UK, Matt Hayes in Norway, and Vala Arnadottir from Iceland for a candid conversation about what their countries are getting right when it comes to salmon conservation –...

Season 3 of The Last Salmon returns on #WIldSalmonDay June 1st. Jim Murray is back with more guests, more insights, more controversy - and more solutions to drive change. We’ve even invited the fox into the hen house when Mowi’s Scotland MD, Ben Hadfield, sits down with Jim. But that’s all still to come.... The Last Salmon is in partnership with Loop Tackle, driving change for wild fish and wild p...

Alex Taylor is an avid outdoorsman, conservationist, and author of ‘The Longest Cast: The Fly-Fishing Journey of a Lifetime.’   But he is also CEO of Cox Enterprises, one of the largest private companies in America that generates $22 billion in annual revenue.   With such power comes a lot of responsibility and influence and he has directed investments toward sustainability-focused businesses, com...

As it’s that time of year again, we’re reposting our episode from December 2024 with chef and sustainable food activist, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, 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...

Once abundant in England’s crystal-clear chalk rivers, our chalk stream salmon now teeter on the edge of extinction.   The chalk stream salmon is one of the rarest fish on earth and yet, after 2 million years they are at one minute to midnight.   There are a myriad of pressures and problems pushing them to the brink but there is urgent work underway to help bring them back and Charles Rangeley-Wil...

Frederik W. Mowinckel is unique amongst those who oppose salmon farms.  It was his family who were some of the original salmon farmers in Norway that gave rise to the global, toxic industry, but the Mowinckels are now some of the most outspoken critics of its practices, especially that of Mowi who used the Mowinckel surname for their company name.   Frederik speaks to Jim on the latest episode of...

Continuing our journey across the Atlantic, this week we’re in Iceland, a land synonymous with countless stunning salmon rivers.     Peter Rippin, is a pioneering Englishman who throughout his career, has been setting up and running fishery operations throughout the world.   Peter currently runs the East Ranga in Iceland, a very productive salmon river and unique in that it is solely a hatchery ri...

Over this side of the Atlantic you probably haven’t heard of Hooké or its founder, Fred Campbell, but I liken him to a Canadian Yvon Chouinard, someone who has committed their life to the outdoors whilst also running a successful business.     And like Patagonia’s founder, Fred Campbell, is someone truly obsessed with protecting nature and the wild salmon.   To highlight the salmon’s precarious st...

Every so often you meet someone whose life is so remarkable and whose love of and determination in saving nature leaves you in awe.   I think of the campaigner, Alex Morton, from Season 1 on the Last Salmon, who has been responsible for getting the open pen salmon farms shut down in British Columbia, or the late Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and conservationist.   This week’s guest on T...

Just a few years ago the Baltic salmon were thriving, with huge numbers of fish running the pristine waters of Sweden.   Once thought to be on the brink, the salmon bounced back and were being celebrated as a success story.   However, something drastic has changed and the Baltic salmon are once again in decline.   Emilie Bjorkman and Lars Munk are fanatical salmon anglers who’ve committed their li...

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 w...

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 natu...

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...

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 th...

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,...

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 Murr...