Vladimir Zeman 1960 - 2010 — Farewell to a fisher

The passing of life is always premature and incomprehensible.  And accidents come without warning.  Vladimir was only 50 years old.  A brilliant businessman in the complicated world of mass media, where he was instrumental in setting up a prominent, respected and a successful organisation.

Many of his international friends met him on the river banks in faraway countries, including Russia, Norway, Seychelles, Bosnia, Slovenia, Iceland, Canada, Cuba, Argentina, Venezuela and in the US.  We saw him as a dedicated outdoorsman, great sportsman and an accomplished angler, in a way that reflected deeper values for the environment. I knew him as a fishing partner and a great conservationist.  He loved rivers and in conversation he demonstrated his deep anxiety about the degradation of rivers through pollution, abstraction and sheer human carelessness.

But Vladimir shared a dream with many of us in the salmon world.  He had the confidence and the ambition that one day we would be able to return the wild salmon stocks in Europe to their levels of historic abundance.  These feelings led him to be the force and the inspiration behind the formation of the Ichtys Bohemia initiative, of which he was chairman.  This vision was that watercourses can be managed to provide sustainable environments for all wild things, from the humble nymph, to the kingfisher and the noble salmon. His belief was that salmon could return to the rivers of his homeland, where they had once been abundant.

Indeed, there are a great many stories of salmon in Czech rivers.  From the River Labe in 1751, some 496 salmon were reported in Melník, from the River Vltava in 1878, 352 salmon in Praha, from the River Otava in 1896, 300 salmon in Sušice and from River Cerná in 1925, one female salmon of 7 kilos. There were also stories of salmon in Malše, Stropnice and Ohre. In 1934, the building of the high weir in Ústí (Strekov) put an end to the upstream migration of salmon there, but not an end to future hope.  Already Vladi was able to celebrate the first salmon this century returning to his native country.

We at the North Atlantic Salmon Fund have fond memories of discussing salmon restoration with Vladi, the Czech Anglers Union, the North Bohemia Angling Association, the Czech Union for Nature Conservation, the Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection of the Czech Republic and the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic.  We became convinced that that restoration of salmon in Europe is achievable.

Vladimir was a great friend to be with, sympathetic, warm and understanding of everything. He dearly loved his wonderful family and his untimely departure now leaves a gaping hole.  However, his influence and thinking will live on in the legacy he left to his family and partners and the vision that one day the tragic story of wildlife in European rivers will be reversed and Vladi´s children will see many salmon cutting redds near his home.


Orri Vigfússon Chairman
North Atlantic Salmon Fund


The North Atlantic Salmon Fund has established The Vladimir Zeman Memorial Fund, to honour the memory and life´s work in wild Atlantic salmon conservation of Ing. Vladimír Zeman who passed away on Good Friday, 2 April, 2010.  The Memorial Fund is a permanent legacy of an extraordinary man that will help ensure that NASF is able to continue the work that he began.

He who lives in the heart never dies.
František Hrubín