Scottish Government Announce New Funding of £500,000 to Support the Development of Wild Salmon Conservation Measures
The Missing Salmon Alliance welcomes the announcement today of new funding to support the development of wild salmon conservation measures.
Nick Hawkins Photography
The Scottish Government has today announced funding of £500,000 to support two projects – the National Adult Sampling Plan which provides crucial data on wild salmon stock and the development of a standardised fisheries management plan template which can be used by all the fisheries management areas in Scotland. The Scottish Government news release can be viewed here.
Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon will announce the funding as part of a speech to international delegates and Scottish stakeholders at the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) annual meeting this evening.
It follows the publication of the Scottish Government’s Wild Salmon Strategy which aims to bring the wild salmon population in Scotland back from crisis point.
Dr Alan Wells, Chief Executive of MSA Member, Fisheries Management Scotland, said: “We welcome this funding which will support efforts to protect and restore salmon populations across Scotland. The information arising from the adult sampling programme will feed directly into stock assessments which inform Scottish salmon conservation regulations.
“Addressing the wild salmon crisis will require concerted action to deal with a range of pressures faced by our wild salmon. This is why we have issued a call to action, which identifies a range of actions that must be urgently delivered, in addition to this very welcome funding. We are urging the Government to deliver its existing commitments without delay, and to go much further in all the areas where they have the power to make a difference.”
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