The Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar L. is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers flowing into it. It is an anadromous migratory fish species which means the method of the fish's breeding cycle is for the adult fish live in the sea but migrate to freshwater to spawn. Juvenile fish live in freshwater before undergoing dramatic changes to migrate to sea.
It is widely accepted that there has been a global decline in Atlantic Salmon and our Salmon & Trout Research Centre at East Stoke in Dorset monitors this decline using a fish counter which was first installed in 1973. It is one of the most comprehensive records of salmon movement in England and Wales.