Around GBP 700,000 (USD 977,270, EUR 789,000) will be spent on work to help address the range of pressures related to the decline of Scotland’s wild salmon stocks, the Scottish Government has announced.
The support package will include GBP 500,000 (USD 698,189, EUR 563,663) for research and activities, such as a new national program of local sampling which will help to count and monitor the numbers of juvenile salmon in rivers before they leave to become adults at sea and return.
District Salmon Fishery Boards (DSFBs) and those interested in establishing new DSFBs can also bid for a share of GBP 200,000 (USD 279,275, EUR 225,465) for mergers, or to set up new boards to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of fisheries management.
“The decline in wild salmon numbers is due to a range of complex factors and is of great concern – we must do all we can to safeguard the future of this iconic species,” said Roseanna Cunningham, Scotland’s environment secretary.
The survival rate of salmon during their marine phase has fallen from around 25 percent to 5 percent over the last 40 years and, but the exact causes of this dramatic loss are unclear.
Cunningham said the investment would accelerate and enhance joint work to try to quantify and mitigate a wide range of potential pressures on Scottish salmon stocks, such as forestry, hydro, barriers to migration, predation, illegal poaching, salmon farming, invasive non-native species, inshore and offshore developments and diffuse pollution.
“No single one of these, tackled alone, will secure the recovery of our wild salmon stocks,” she said.
“Voluntary mergers of fishery boards will help to generate cost savings, pool resources and better tackle river pressures like high water temperatures and instream habitats, which can affect the production of juvenile salmon."
