Pledge sought from Scottish election candidates to help save our wild salmon
Leading conservation bodies are challenging Scottish Parliament election candidates to help save our country’s wild salmon from extinction.
Scotland’s district salmon fishery boards and fisheries trusts are urging the candidates and parties to commit to urgent action to save the species and protect whole river systems from the growing impacts of climate change.
“This is a critical moment for Scotland’s natural heritage, the millions of people who treasure it in our towns and cities, and the countless rural communities who depend directly on its welfare. Climate change, and a range of human impacts are posing an existential threat to several species including our iconic salmon.
The reasons for catastrophic declines in our salmon and seatrout are complex, but there are several practical measures which we know will make a difference if we act urgently. The Scottish Parliament has a critical role.”
They are asking all candidates and the political parties to commit to three vital measures:
Make saving Scotland’s salmon a national conservation priority.
Fund the planting of native trees beside those rivers which Marine Scotland Science has identified as vulnerable to damaging temperature rises.
Implement in full the unanimous recommendations of the Salmon Interactions Working Group, which was established by the Scottish Government, comprising wild salmon conservation bodies and the fish farming industry.
“We would ask anyone with an interest in the future of our iconic wild salmon to contact the candidates in their constituency and region, asking them to commit to these crucial pledges.”
As an Alliance of five 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