"Game fish are too valuable to only be caught once." --Lee Wulff

When Pétur Pétursson took over in Vatnsdalsá River in 1997 he implemented the ‘Catch and Release’ program which has proven to be very successful. 
“One of my main goals from the very beginning was to turn Vatnsdalsá River into a sustainable fishing river. It’s thought that Vatnsdalsá River is the first river in Iceland to implement the ‘catch and release’ rule and according the research done in 2012, the farming of spawn in Vatnsdalsá River hasn’t been greater since measurements begun. Taking care of nature is a long-term project and included in that project is building natural fish stock in fishing rivers. The only way for the project to be successful is if everyone works together as a team; fishing associations, leaseholders, and last but not least, the anglers that want to enjoy the untainted nature. Luckily for me, I don’t only have fantastic staff working with me, but also a number of great anglers that support and advocate the idea of taking care of nature and those are the anglers that return to Vatnsdalsá River. 

Pétur Pétursson is a passionate angler himself and enjoys assisting people who are new to the river. 
“I feel that here in Vatnsdalur Valley, I’ve had all the adventures one could ask for when it comes to salmon fishing. I wasn’t big on salmon fishing before I started coming here, but I’ve been extremely lucky with the size of the salmon I’ve caught. I’ve caught a 25lbs salmon, and a few that weighed-in at 20lbs. What other people call a “big catch” in other rivers, salmon weighing-in at 10lbs or 12lbs, is something I don’t even bother mentioning. It’s all too common here in Vatnsdalsá River to catch 12lbs-16lbs that people have stopped noticing! Those who talk of big salmon catches as being a myth is something we don’t notice here in Vatnsdalsá River. And perhaps it’s not too much of a surprise – we’ve been letting our salmon returning its “big size genes” back into the river since 1997! ''