ANGLERS have called for action to protect salmon and trout in two of the region's rivers after figures revealed numbers of the fish had fallen by more than 80 per cent over the last four years.

Environment Agency figures reveal from January to the end of August, only 193 salmon and sea trout had been counted by Environment Agency at the Tees Barrage, where 264, 781, 1,244 and had been counted over the same period in the previous three years, respectively.

Up until the end of last month, 8,974 salmon and sea trout had been counted in the River Wear in Durham, and unless there is a dramatic change before the end of the year, it will see the second lowest annual total for 20 years.

Totals of 10,185 and 16,016 salmon and sea trout were counted at the Framwellgate weir site over the same periods in 2014 and 2011, respectively.

Anglers say while numbers of salmon and trout are clearly rising in the Tyne and North Yorkshire rivers Swale and Ure, they believe action needs to be taken in the Wear and Tees.

Thornaby Angling Association chairman Gordon Angel said while the Tees water quality was good and there were high numbers of coarse fish, such as bream and perch, members had noted a dramatic decline in salmon and sea trout progressing up the river.

He said: "There is something definitely wrong now and it needs looking at properly."

Mr Angel said rising numbers of otters and family of seals, below the barrage, and others that had reportedly passed through the lock and swum upstream, could be partly responsible for the falling numbers.

Mr Angel said: "It's like McDonald's there for the seals, they are eating vast quantities of the fish."

An Environment Agency spokesman said dry weather may have led to lower numbers of returning fish, but it could make no conclusions until the end of the season, and that there had been high numbers in the Tees in 2012 and 2013 due to summer floods.

He said: "Fish populations do fluctuate naturally, and previously rivers have subsequently seen fish return in their numbers after a low year.”

The agency said it would closely monitor the effects of a new hydropower scheme and fish pass on the Wear in Durham city centre, but the situation on the Tees was complex as there were a number of routes for fish to pass upstream.

It added rod catch information, fish counter records and surveys of juvenile salmon indicated there had been a general upward trend of salmon on the Tees since the early 1980s.