The salmon season was launched with a traditional ceremony yesterday when a pipe band led hundreds of anglers to the banks of the River Tay, in Scotland.

Each one was hoping to reel in the first catch of the year - and for one angler there was a happy landing, with a catch weighing in at about 20lbs.

His efforts were cheered on by botanist and broadcaster Dr David Bellamy, who toasted the fish with a quaich of whisky to officially open the salmon season.

Away from the wild salmon, Dr Bellamy took the opportunity to call for closer links between the Government and the industry in order to deal with the "scare stories" on the health risks of eating too much farmed salmon.

Speaking soon after the journal Science published US research linking farmed salmon with cancer, Dr Bellamy said he doubted whether all the research had been made public.

He said the UK was supposed to have some of Europe's cleanest waters.

"The Government should put all the data on the table, alongside the fishermen and the fish farmers, and see what's gone wrong," he said.

"Will they turn round very soon and say that whisky is full of dioxins?"