River research at Scottish Conference could shed light on massive decline of Scottish salmon

Conservationists and salmon fishermen are united in their concerns about the dwindling number of Atlantic salmon now residing in rivers across the UK.  Pollution, predation even climate change are thought to be potential causes of a massive 70 per cent decline in recent years.  But in truth no-one really knows why salmon stocks are disappearing.

However, remarkable new research being presented by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s at its Scottish Conference on 19 March in Inverness could shed light on some of the critical factors affecting our Atlantic salmon stocks in rivers across Scotland.

The research, which is being carried out in a state-of-the-art natural river laboratory on the River Frome in Dorset by Trust scientists has involved the tagging of more than 40,000 young salmon with Passive Integrated Transmitters (PIT tags). These fish, many of which will migrate to the sea in the spring, will enable the researchers to build an accurate picture of how the river environment is affecting the success of salmon at sea. For example it will help to clarify whether their size when leaving the river affects their survival and the length of time they spend at sea.  

Dr Anton Ibbotson, who runs the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Salmon and Trout Research Centre at East Stoke, in Dorset, explains the latest findings of this long-standing research, “This autumn was the fourth year that we have tagged more than 10,000 salmon parr.  In total 40,000 fish have been tagged over this period and we are monitoring their progress closely as they leave the river and significantly, if and when they return from the sea in two or three years time.”

Already this important research is identifying some of the key issues that relate to the migration of juvenile salmon.  Dr Ibbotson said, “A few years ago we discovered a significant downstream migration of salmon parr from the streams where they were born down to the tidal reaches of the River Frome in late October.
“This raises the question of why so many parr migrate away from safe areas to sites that contain many predators such as bass, sea trout and pike.  Our monitoring suggests that some sites produce more autumn migrants than others, which could imply that it is the physical attributes of the sites themselves, such as the amount of over-winter cover or an excessive number of fish within individual sites that causes excess fish to migrate out of these relatively safe areas."

Dr Ibbotson continues, “An interesting aspect of this research is that the fine detail is applicable to spring fed chalk streams as well as rain fed spate rivers in Scotland.  More than 25% of fish could be affected by this autumn parr migration and if we can answer this question with our research then this could have a huge impact on our Atlantic salmon population in the future. 

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Scottish conference – now in its fifteenth year - is being chaired by the Trust’s Scottish Chairman, Mr Alasdair Laing and is kindly sponsored by Turcan Connell, Saffery Champness and Jeremy Dewhurst.  The conference, which attracts a wide range of delegates including landowners, sporting enthusiasts, practitioners, and conservationists is being held at the Drumossie Hotel, Old Perth Road, Inverness on Friday 19 March 2010. The conference starts at 10.00am until 4.00pm and costs £40 per person including lunch.

For further information, or to book a place visit www.gwct.org.uk/scottishconference, please contact: Irene Johnston on 01738 551511 or email: ijohnston@gwct.org.uk. 

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Photocaption 1:  The adult salmon counter detects the adults as they return to spawn.
Photocaption 2:  This adult salmon is 1.03 metres long!

Notes to editors

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is an independent wildlife conservation charity which carries out scientific research into Britain’s game and wildlife. We advise farmers and landowners on improving wildlife habitats and we lobby for agricultural and conservation policies based on science. We employ 14 post-doctoral scientists and 50 other research staff with expertise in areas such as birds, insects, mammals, farming and statistics.  We undertake our own research as well as projects funded by contract and grant-aid from Government and private bodies.   The Trust is also responsible for a number of Government Biodiversity Action Plan species and is lead partner for grey partridge and joint lead partner for brown hare and black grouse.

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