ALTHOUGH I do not fish anymore I have never lost my love of sitting on the banks of our local rivers.

Now that most watercourses in Britain are free from pollution, more and more salon are spreading into former spawning grounds.

At one time salmon were so common that apprentices once went on strike because they were being fed on too much free salmon!

Even though salmon are more common than in the days when pollution almost killed off all the wildlife in our rivers, it is sadly still not a common fish. Next time you visit the supermarket look at two prices.

Firstly look at the price of farmed salmon' and then at the cost of a piece of wild salmon. Then you can see how rare the fish still is.

The salmon is without doubt the king of British fish and the various names given to it during the various stages of its life can be confusing. Here I will try to help by describing the life history of the salmon.

The process starts with the return of the advet salmon from the sea and it is these salmon which run to the breeding grounds which so attract not only the angler, but those who love to watch the graceful fish leaping over tumbling waterfall.

Eventually they reach the spawning grounds in the gravel of river shallows. These are called Redds and the female salmon lays her eggs and the males fertilise them with sperm.

Usually both fish are so exhausted that they die and when in this state they are called kelts. Each fertilised egg contains enough yolk for the developing young to survive several months often through the winter.

They then hatch and are called Alevins. Gradually these become recognisable as small fish with prominent body markings. They are then called Salmon Parr.

These feed on aquatic invertebrates and begin to grow. Gradually they become paler and get ready for migrating to the sea. The marine pound fish are called Smolts.

As the salmon feeds in the oceans it grows quickly and the appearance changes and this is particularly the case with the males. They develop a prominent hooked jaw and this is called a Kype.

Soon the advets are ready to return to the place where they were born and these returning fish are often called Grilse.

Whilst the salmon is increasing its number of breeding grounds, salmon catches are not yet at a stage where conservationists can relax.

All of us must worked hard to ensure that we have more and more healthy rivers to support ever more numerous and healthy fish.