Wild salmon… The two words conjure images of magnificent creatures leaping waterfalls as they make their way back to the place where they were born to spawn the next generation, after completing one of the most remarkable migratory routes imaginable. 

And for better or worse, the idea of local wild salmon also conjures thoughts of one of the most delicious seafoods available. Or I should say, used to be available. Because last summer was the final time any of us get the chance to taste this most fabulous of fish for a decade or more.

Netting for salmon in England’s estuaries has come to an end now that a 10-year ban has been put in place in a bid to see if the move helps to reverse the decline in stocks. 

The move ended more than 1000 years of tradition and history. There’s documentary evidence to show that folk were netting these gleaming fish on the River Exe, for example, for centuries - maybe even since Roman times.

So you can imagine my enthusiasm when a young chef called Tom Williams invited me to a special wild salmon supper at his excellent Salutation Inn, in Topsham. Actually, I couldn’t make it - but I did want to know about the salmon.  

It turned out that Tom’s dad, Ed Williams - a well known figure around the Exe estuary - is a member of a crew of nets-men who are licensed to fish for the salmon. 

Ed goes out onto the river for just two-and-a-half months a year with a man called Terry Rowsell and his crew - and they invited me to join them one day this week to see what the seine-netting is all about. 

I can tell you one thing it’s not about: catching fish. We returned to Topsham empty handed after a few hours hauling nets out on the mudbanks downstream. Indeed, they’d only caught two fish (along with two sea trout) in three weeks when I visited - but what they do catch, son Tom buys for the historic Salutation Inn, where he is occasionally able to put on special wild salmon suppers as a traditional treat for his regulars.  

It’s hard to believe that the ancient netting practise can be too ruinous for salmon stocks. These were only three boats left with a license on the Exe and , as I say, they only fished for 10 weeks a year.

And when you see how seine-netting works, it is environmentally-friendly. The net is only in the water for 20 minutes and it does not cross the entire stream between the mud-banks. Even if all three boats were to shoot nets three or four times every day (which they don’t) it would leave the migratory fish pretty much unhindered. 

Terry told me the last time a count was made two years ago, the River Exe anglers recorded catches of more 600 salmon (many of which would have been returned) while all three netting boats together accounted for just 100.

“I’ve done this all my life,” said 81-year-old Terry as we set off aboard his small boat. There used to be 25 licensed boats in my young days and then we’d make more money… Say we’d get a fiver a week in a normal job - when we were salmoning we could make as much as 60 quid.

“It was nothing for us to catch 20 or 30 on a tide. Now you’re lucky to catch one or two. I think the gill nets (out to sea) are to blame.”

“They’re monofilament nets and they shoot them for 25 miles,” added Ed.

“What we catch doesn’t affect the stocks, we don’t think,” said Terry. “So they (the Environment Agency) are finishing a way of life. I’ve done it for 70 years, since I was a tacker. It was your real livelihood back then. There’s no money it now. Since they got the farmed salmon in Scotland - that killed the wild salmon prices. But anything wild tastes better.

“Now this fishing will be gone. There will be nobody left to do it in ten years time. I make the nets myself and no one will know how to do that. There’ll be nobody around who wants to do it anyway. Next year it will be all gone. It makes me feel sad because I think the tradition should carry on. It won’t come back - who will want to do it? You‘ve been out today - we didn’t get anything - so it’s cost me more money in petrol than anything I could make.”

Beaten but not defeated… I may have been going home with an empty cool box but Ed’s son Tom had invited me to lunch at the Salutation Inn where he had prepared the most amazing seafood platter - which included a portion of the wild River Exe salmon. 

It was delicious and later Tom told me how his family had bought the old coaching in eight years ago and refurbished it to become the luxurious watering hole that it is today. He also told me about his own impressive career as a chef and about how he has a passion for the wild salmon that his father Ed and Terry occasionally manage to catch. 

“We get amazing fish,” said Tom. “If it’s not from the river it’s from the sea nearby. We’ve just had a load of lobsters in fresh from Ladram Bay. We like to get all the wild salmon that’s caught and I’m lucky that dad is a member of one of the crews. We also get salmon from another boat. 

“There is a huge difference (between wild and farmed salmon). You can see it in the appearance - it’s the depth of colour. The fish is so fresh - it hasn’t even been in a vehicle, just brought up the hill. The taste, the colour - it’s entirely different. These fishermen only take a small amount of the fish that are going up the river - and they do play a part in the preservation of the salmon.” 

I put it to Tom that quite a lot of the recipes you see today designed to mask the flavour of farmed salmon rather than highlight it.  

“We like to keep it simple,” he told me. “ Fillet it down, take the pin-bones out and score the skin - then just pan fry it. We do that as one option, but if they have a good landing we might cure it - and if there’s a really good landing we will get it cold-smoked. That is so good - when you look at that compared to supermarket smoked salmon, there is a vast difference. 

“We’ve done tartare salmon (raw) for a canapé party - literally just diced some with a bit of horseradish or come capers. It just doesn’t need too much doing to it. 

“Serving salmon here is a tradition that is a part of Topsham,” Tom added. “It has been going on for generations and generations. It is a special product that needs to be celebrated - and it is part of the town.”

Tom Williams’  wild River Exe salmon with summer vegetables and basil cream

Ingredients, (serves two)

2 portions wild salmon fillets, scaled and pin-boned

Handful cherry tomatoes

Two medium plum tomatoes

2 little gem lettuces, washed and halved

Small bunch of English asparagus

Large bunch of basil – keeping a few smaller leaves aside for garnish

Samphire – ask your fishmonger

250ml single cream

Small bundle of thyme 

100ml fish stock (optional)

1 lemon

1 tbsp plain flour

2 tbsp black olive puree
Preheat the oven to 150 degrees

Summer vegetables

Prepare the asparagus by removing the woody end and peel the stalk a little if it looks gnarly. Spike the cherry tomatoes and criss-cross the plum tomato on the top where it would attach to the vine. Lightly wash the samphire. 

Prepare a pan of boiling salted water and get a bowl of water full of ice ready. Blanch the asparagus for approx. three minutes, before plunging into the ice to refresh. Blanch the cherry tomatoes for 2 – 3 seconds, and the plum tomato for 10 seconds and add to the ice. Submerge the samphire in the boiling water for seconds, before adding to the ice. 

Blanch the basil leaves in the boiling water leaving the stalks on for three or four minutes until transparent and soft. Remove from the water and place in a blender with the cream. Blitz for a couple of minutes until you have a green basil foam. Pass through a fine sieve and season to taste. 

Remove all ingredients from the ice onto a tray lined with kitchen roll to drain. De-skin the tomatoes, de-seed the plum tomato and dice finely. Put the cherry tomatoes onto a lightly oiled baking tray and roast for 8 minutes.

In a medium hot frying pan, add light olive oil and sauté the gem lettuce along with the thyme. Season well with salt and pepper. Once it starts to wilt, add a little fish stock if you would like to cook the lettuce thoroughly and for a deeper flavour – alternatively leave it so a little bite remains.

Lightly flour the fish skin and season the fish all over. In a non-stick pan, cook skin side down for four to five minutes depending on how pink you like the fish. Turn over to seal the underside. Remove from the pan and season with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Lightly warm the rest of the ingredients through the oven with a little olive oil. Arrange nicely on the plate with little splodges of black olive puree, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to taste and garnish with the small basil leaves.