Visitors at Germany’s renowned Erlebniswelt Fliegenfischen fly fishing show donate an incredible €19,422 to the Atlantic Salmon Trust
In April 2025 our team travelled to the renowned Erlebniswelt Fliegenfischen (EWF) fly fishing show near Munich, Germany. As part of an ongoing partnership and friendship with show organisers, Michaela, Robert and Lara Stroh (an Atlantic Salmon Trust ambassador), we were delighted to have been chosen as the charity of choice at this year’s 20th Anniversary show. The show attracts thousands of visitors each year from all across the world with a shared passion for fly fishing and the conservation of our rivers, coasts and seas.
A shared effort for wild Atlantic salmon
Thanks to an incredible tombola-style raffle organised by the EWF team, which included hundreds of prizes generously donated by individuals and fishing brands, visitors to the show raised an amazing €19,422 for the Atlantic Salmon Trust, as well as thousands of Euros for a local children’s charity. We are incredibly grateful to the Stroh family for giving the Trust this wonderful fundraising opportunity, and to all those who took part by donating a prize or buying entry tickets. Prizes donated included once-in-a-lifetime fishing trips to Slovenia, Bosnia, Norway, Austria and Scotland, as well as unique art (such as that of renowned fly fisher and artist, Charles Jardine, picture below), fishing tackle, clothing, books and more. Our Norwegian ambassador, John Olav Oldren, also kindly donated a fishing trip to Tingvoll Lodge on the River Verdal.
Funding raised at the show will contribute to our important research and restoration work, including a new digital salmon lifecycle modelling platform, and work on our ground-breaking Core Rivers programme, which looks to identify, evidence, monitor and communicate effective wild Atlantic salmon restoration solutions for the benefit of organisations and communities across the North Atlantic.
The growing impact of Wild Salmon Without Borders
This year’s show marked the second year of our Wild Salmon Without Borders EWF partnership, connecting with brands and conservation organisations across Europe to advance the collective cause of wild Atlantic salmon recovery. The show provided an opportunity to present our research and restoration work to European partners, including local organisations in Germany such as Fario e.V. who are working to bring Atlantic salmon back to their rivers.
Building from our partnership at the EWF show in 2024, the Stroh family also played an instrumental role in the early planning stages of the Missing Salmon Alliance‘s Wild Salmon Connections conference which took place in London in January 2025. Our CEO, Mark Bilsby, made these remarks:
”At last year’s EWF, we began a new movement to energise greater cross-border cooperation for wild Atlantic salmon – Wild Salmon Without Borders. Thanks to the Stroh family and EWF, we were given a platform which enabled us to forge new connections with partners from all across Europe. That movement has now grown further, culminating recently in the Wild Salmon Connections conference held in London in January 2025, hosted with our partners in the Missing Salmon Alliance, and supported by organisations from across the Atlantic and the Pacifc.
This event has re-energised the international salmosphere behind a shared set of values and goals, in what was the most signifcant gathering of wild salmon conservationists for many years. We are now working more closely than ever to ensure that our eforts make a positive and lasting impact for wild salmon, supporting the environmental, social and political change required. The roots of this recent movement came from EWF.”
Mark Bilsby, CEO Atlantic Salmon Trust
Our Head of Communications, Jonathon Muir, and Corporate Ambassador, Mark Cockburn, were invited to speak at an evening reception in celebration of the EWF show’s 20th Anniversary, and it was incredible to see how the message of wild Atlantic salmon conservation transcended international borders.
Reaching hundreds of thousands through social media
We were also delighted this year to have teamed up with well-known fly tyer, Erin Hyde, known as _shetiesflies on Instagram, and her partner Alex Burnett. Erin has a huge following of over 300,000 on the social media platform and, despite hailing from sunny Florida, generously gave up her time to help spread awareness of the need to protect, conserve and restore wild Atlantic salmon. As part of the support Erin gave us, she tied an incredible, one-off display case of decorative flies which depict the freshwater lifestages of wild Atlantic salmon, from egg to alevin, to fry to parr, and to smolt. This stunning creation will feature as a lot in our fundraising auction later this year – keep an eye out!
Danke!
We are enormously grateful to all those involved in making this year’s EWF show an outstanding success and look forward to returning in the future to continue to advance the cause of wild Atlantic salmon recovery across Europe.
