NASF Luxembourg

Luxembourg and salmon have a long and common history that was put to a regrettable stop about 60 years ago.

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The Latin term"Salar"  was used for the first time around 371 A.D. in the poem "Mosella", an ode to the Mosel river composed by the roman poet Decimus Magnus Ausonius (c.310 - c.395):

"purpureisque salar stellatus tergora guttis"  (Trout, whose back is starred with purple spots).

"qui nec dum salmo nec iam salar " (who are not yet salmon and no longer trout).

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In the "Historia  Luxemburgensis " written in 1605 by Jean BERTELS (1544 - 1607), Abbot of Echternach, the abundance of salmon (which highly sustained the Monastery) in the Sure river, is mentioned several times: "Undequaque vero hic locus  silvis et nemoribus altissimisque montibus absconditur, Sura fluvio alluitur, qui Monasterio abundanter, nec non civibus sufficienter pisces varias, puta Barbiones, Gobiones, Carpos et Anguillas, immo et suo tempore Salmones, non paucos subministrat ".

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Regarding the abundance of salmon in our rivers, it is interesting to note that, in the Luxembourgish legal code, salmon fishing wasn't regulated as strict as it was for other species. In the "Ordonnance concernant les eaux et forêts" (August 13th 1669 and still valid in the XIX century), Title XXXI, article 7, we can read : "Exceptons toutefois de la prohibition contenue en l'article, la pêche aux saumons, aloses et lamproyes, qui sera continuée en la manière accoutumée."

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Salmon was also an important touristic asset for Luxembourg. Our oldest national newspaper, the Luxemburger Wort, in October 23rd 1885, reported the good catch of Colonel Moriaty, a British officer of the Anglo-Indian Army who was passing his holidays in Diekirch, fishing for salmon in the Sûre: a 17,5 lbs salmon, 1,1 meter long! The article ended with "All honour tho the sportsmann!"

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