Major windfall for Scotland’s Salmon Conservation efforts.
A new, ongoing, project to gauge the impact of environmental and climate change on Scotland’s Salmon will attempt to address the 40% fall in returning Atlantic Salmon. This collapse marks a point of severe alarm for the conservations statuses on many of Scotland’s rivers. The funds, which include £150,000 from Crown Estate Scotland, are set to enable the expansion and continuation of many sampling efforts across the country. As such, the ambition of this new grant is to allow Conservation Agencies and Wild Fisheries alike to collate new info to unravel the mystery of declining Salmon numbers.
Mairi Gugeon, the secretary of Rural Affairs, made clear just how alarming the decline in Salmon stocks, especially given the complexity and breadth of the issue. It’s that very complexity and breadth that Gugeon believes the investment will help begin to demystify. As such, the Rural Affairs secretary emphasised the importance of working with land owners and land managers to ensure that new findings in effective management find their way into the hands of those best placed to employ them.
Like Fiona Simpson, the Asset Manager for Crown Estate Scotland, assured her commitment to supporting Scotland’s wild fisheries sector, and acknowledged their importance along with the many challenges they face. The funding, she hoped, would allow for continued valuable research to be carried out and provide evidence that will help to grow a meaningful understanding of the issues at hand.
Dr Alan Wells, Chief Executive of Fisheries Management Scotland , Member Organisation of the MSA, said, “We welcome this vital support from the Scottish Government and Crown Estate Scotland. These important projects will help fisheries managers and the Scottish Government to understand where our Atlantic salmon populations are under pressure and help inform the necessary local and national management actions.
“Scotland’s wild salmon are approaching crisis point and we need to take immediate action in the areas that we can make a difference. Salmon need cool, clean water – we need to protect our rivers from climate change by providing cooling shade, improve water quality and quantity and reduce loses from predators and parasites. We have time to make a difference if we take action now.”
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