IUCN Classifies Atlantic Salmon As Endangered

Geograph -3191883-by -Walter -Baxter

There is stark news for the world’s fish in the latest species reassessment by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Published on 11 December, the report shows that nearly a quarter of the world’s freshwater fish are at risk of extinction, with the main UK population of Atlantic salmon reclassified as endangered and global Atlantic salmon populations reclassified from least concern to near threatened.

Dylan Roberts, Head of Fisheries at the GWCT, commented that “successive governments have done little to improve and enforce regulations to protect water quality in our rivers from agricultural and sewage pollution, these are the Atlantic salmon’s nursery streams and also to adequately protect them at sea. The demise of the wild Atlantic salmon is a sad reflection of how poorly government prioritise the environment.“

IUCN notes that “Atlantic salmon are now restricted to a small portion of the rivers they inhabited a century ago across northern Europe and North America, due to multiple threats over the course of their long-distance migrations between freshwater and marine habitats.”

Many of these threats have been highlighted by the GWCT’s Fisheries team. The EU-funded Samarch project, of which the GWCT was a lead partner, has collected evidence by studying salmon and sea trout on monitored rivers in Southern England and Northern France.

It has recorded changes in the age and growth rates of salmon at sea, updated information on the sex ratios of wild Atlantic salmon, developed a new method for estimating salmon exploitation rates by anglers, improved salmon lifecycle models and developed a genetic baseline to identify the origin of sea trout caught at sea around the Channel area, as well as map areas that are important for sea trout survival, such as migratory routes and feeding hotspots.

It is hoped that these findings, in addition to the continuation of 50 years of monitoring salmon on the Frome, will reverse the future of threatened species. You can watch a short video on the history of our monitoring here:

…the GWCT Fisheries team work hard to undertake leading research in to the declines in salmon and trout populations. You can help them continue their vital work by supporting the GWCT Fisheries team from as little as £3. We are a small charity and every contribution, no matter how big or small, can help make a real difference. It only takes a minute and all cards, Direct Debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal are accepted:

Comments

Salmon survival.

at 22:00 on 14/12/2023 by Terence Roy Wright

I used to love fly fishing for Salmon on the River Lune in Lancashire until it reached a point that I had my last cast a few years ago. This was due to not catching a fish on many occasions after all the time cost and effort put in . I’m no one to fish desperately to catch a Salmon but it reached the point when I decided because of lack of fish that enough was enough. On predation as a reason for declining numbers in all rivers, animal and bird predators have been in action since Salmon ran the rivers. Netting was a big thing in the past taking numbers at the river mouth, then we read that Russian and Japanese over fishing of the Salmon by factory size trawlers was the next big thing. Possibly the main culprit, who knows? Something is desperately amiss and it’s a tragedy for all in search for the reasons why. I certainly don’t have an answer but we can be sure that man has had a big hand in the demise of Salmon numbers returning to the rivers in Europe.

salmon

at 20:34 on 12/12/2023 by John Dickson

In the UK salmon farming is a big problem for wild salmon. Domestic salmon spread disease to their wild counterparts, particularly ectoparasites, the estuaries where the pens are located become polluted by uneaten fish foods and fish waste and escapees can hybridise with the wild fish polluting their gene pool and leaving them less well adapted to the rigours of a migratory life cycle.

Salmon

at 17:56 on 12/12/2023 by George Stead

Why oh why don't we let Gillies open up their Hatcheries again and ideally allow culling of some of the predators at the mouth. Gillies are the best people to understand their river and know what should be done to get the numbers back near to what they used to be.

Sea Trout

at 16:34 on 12/12/2023 by Rory Macdonald

In my 60 years of fishing on Loch Maree there has been a decline in the amount of salmon caught, but this is nothing compared to the decline in the number of sea trout caught. What was once one of the countries and even world renowned sea trout fisheries has now become non existent. Sad times.

Atlantic salmon

at 14:44 on 12/12/2023 by Stephen Asher

Three centuries of human activity has left them teetering on the brink. They haven't three centuries to be saved, and, without action, they won't be.

Salmon

at 12:10 on 12/12/2023 by WBW

A terrifying reflection of the state of nature . Hoovering them up by the millions each year out at sea , is I am sure a huge contributory factor to the decrease in numbers ,coupled with predation amongst others . Let's hope that the new fad of releasing beavers doesn't impede the migration of these magnificent fish ....!!

Make a comment

Name

Email

Subject

Message