Salmon Fishing in Scandinavia is in a state of crisis – but there is still hope; hope for the giants of the rivers and for the rivers themselves. In this article, Alvaro G. Santillan tells the story of a river giant, and how salmon fishing has evolved over the last few decades to cultivate sustainable conservation.

Have you ever wondered why dogs love to stick theirs heads out the window of a moving car? It’s the same reason I love riding high on a flats boat: the rush of air combined with the scent of saltwater and mangroves overloads my olfactory receptors, which triggers the pleasure sensors in my brain to produce a veritable high.

I’ve been lucky to spend most of my adult life immersed in New Zealand’s world-class trout fishing and epic landscapes—but I grew up in the U.S., and every now and then, I miss the grit that comes with a continental landmass and a big population. Australia ticks all of these boxes and I love it.

From the very first time my feet touched the sands of the Cook Islands, I had already become emotionally invested. Some connections in life can be this simple and evolve in an instant. Since my initial visit in 2014, I have made a point of returning at least once, sometimes twice, every year.