News
Where the salmon swims – Icelandair flies
We are delighted to witness the success of the NASF campaigns and see the returns of Atlantic salmon grow once again. With more salmon in the rivers there is a growing demand among salmon fishermen in Europe and North America to visit the Arctic region and book fishing in Iceland, Norway and Russia.” said Birkir Holm Gudnason CEO of Icelandair in his Reykjavik office. “We have decided to offer a wider range of opportunities for sport fishermen with flights out of most leading European cities as well as North America. Already cities like London, Paris, Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Madrid are well covered. And from theUSA we fly out of New York, Boston and Minneapolis and we will expand our service to Halifax and Toronto in Canada, Oslo Duesseldorf and Stavanger in Norway..
2008 was an incredible year for big salmon with many fish recorded over 30 lbs from Norway, Russia and Scotland. Salmon numbers are increasing too and Iceland enjoyed its best fishing year on record with 82,000 salmon caught. Icelandair Group chief Björgólfur Jóhannsson added, “for those visiting the Kola rivers in Russia we will provide flights from Helsinki or Stockholm and we will continue our popular domestic flights in Iceland to Akureyri and Egilsstadir and Isafjordur. Adventure fishers may also be interested to hear of our extended coverage into Greenland too where Arctic char provide superb sport.. 
Why are salmon numbers increasing? Orri Vigfússon, Chairman of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF) is quite sure he knows why. “Since 1989 NASF has spent over $40 million protecting salmon during their feeding and migration passage in theAtlantic ocean. Now, around 90% of all commercial fishermen – netsmen and long-liners alike – have agreed to the NASF doctrine of fair compensation and alternative sources of income, and this has allowed salmon shoals to roam freely in the sea, find rich feeding grounds and flourish..
“Our work continues, but I do feel optimistic for the future of the sport. With more salmon, more flights to our fishing destinations and, credit-crunch driven, more and more anglers will be able to afford the fishing prices - I think there is great fishing to be enjoyed in 2009. That’s how I will invest my remaining funds!” The North Atlantic Salmon Fund, NASF, is a coalition of voluntary conservation groups who have come together to restore stocks of wild Atlantic salmon to their historic abundance..
For more information www.nasfworldwide.com
