Ambitious Salmon Tracking Study Begins to Shed Light on how this Iconic Species uses the West Coast of Scotland
Missing Salmon Alliance members, Fisheries Management Scotland and the Atlantic Salmon Trust, in partnership with Marine Scotland, are delivering a unique study which aims to better understand how our young salmon smolts use the West Coast of Scotland, with the ultimate goal of better protecting them: The West Coast Tracking Project.
Following the herculean effort of launching the project in Spring 2021, the work is starting to indicate migratory patterns and preferences, including how individual smolts move through sea lochs and their speed of travel. The early findings also show that our salmon smolts disperse widely along the west coast and migrate using many different routes.
Dr Jess Rodger preparing for tagging phase, (Atlantic Salmon Trust, 2021)
Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “I welcome the initial results of this innovative and ongoing project that is increasing our understanding of salmon migration routes.
“The revival of salmon populations and the habitats they depend on will provide multiple benefits to society and the rural economy.
“While we take a suite of measures across Scotland that are tackling the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss, we continue to argue for greater collective action across the international arena that will reverse the decline of this iconic species.”
This ground-breaking three-year project uses cutting edge technology to follow our salmon smolts from their home rivers, through Scotland’s coastal waters and out to the continental shelf in the North Atlantic, filling in key knowledge gaps about their swimming behaviour and how they are using our coastal waters. This vital work will help to inform the future regulation of coastal developments, such as aquaculture and offshore renewable energy installations, so that we can better protect this iconic species.
During the project’s first year (2021), over 1,200 salmon from ten rivers were tagged with acoustic tags, which emit regular high frequency ‘pings’. Over 200 underwater listening stations were deployed in strategic locations spanning across the west coast of Scotland, including between Skye and Uist. The young salmon smolts are detected by a uniquely identified ‘ping’ from the acoustic tags, providing an insight to the smolts’ movements and a wider understanding of their migratory journey.
West Coast Tracking Project Marine Receiver Deployment (Bill Whyte of the AST) (Atlantic Salmon Trust, 2021)
Mark Bilsby, Chief Executive Officer for the Atlantic Salmon Trust, member of the Missing Salmon Alliance, comments on what we know so far: “There has been a momentous effort from everyone contributing to this project. It’s great to finally shed light on the previously unknown behaviour of our young smolts and how they use this complex environment. Seeing people who care deeply about the future of wild Atlantic salmon come together has been incredible and the ability to share resources and knowledge has only strengthened the project for the benefit of wild fish.”
Continuing into year two to strengthen our knowledge, work is well underway to deploy equipment by the project partners and teams from the network of Fishery Boards and Fisheries Trusts, supported by the University of Glasgow.
Welcoming the project’s second year, Dr Alan Wells, Chief Executive of Fisheries Management Scotland, member of the Missing Salmon Alliance, said, “The West Coast Tracking Project is a wonderful example of partnership working which will allow us to better protect our precious wild salmon. Learning from the results of year one, in year two we will build our understanding of the timing and speed of salmon migration through sea lochs as well as the routes taken in areas with marine developments, such as aquaculture and offshore renewables. The resulting information will directly inform planning and regulation.”
These first results from year one of the project are a huge step forwards in understanding how our young salmon use Scotland’s coastal waters and provide essential knowledge needed for more wild salmon to not only survive, but thrive, in our rivers and at sea.
Watch the animation further detailing the results from the first year of the study here:
Individual Smolt Movement:
One smolt was tagged and released on the River Orchy on the 26th April before being detected in the Sound of Mull on the 1st of May. It then migrated towards the southern Islands of the Outer Hebrides on the 11th of May, with a total distance travelled of 189km across 16 days.
West Coast Tracking Project Fyke Net being installed on the Loy (Atlantic Salmon Trust, 2021)
The West Coast Tracking Project is funded by The Scottish Government, Salmon Scotland and the Atlantic Salmon Trust.
This project is taking place alongside other major initiatives, such as Sea Monitor, COMPASS and the MEFS MPA Project, which are using the same technology.
As an Alliance of six organisations, we will build on the existing work of our partners and maximise our impact by taking a coordinated approach and vital action in order to halt and reverse the decline of wild Atlantic salmon.
The goal of the Missing Salmon Alliance is to build an evidence-base to influence national and international decision-makers to regulate activities that adversely impact wild Atlantic salmon.
The Missing Salmon Alliance
The MSA is comprised of the following members:
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Atlantic Salmon Trust, the Angling Trust with Fish Legal, The Rivers Trust and Fisheries Management Scotland.
https://www.missingsalmonalliance.org