Follow the fish: Landmark bid to protect threatened Scots salmon by tracking their route to north Atlantic
phase of the Missing Salmon Project in the Moray Firth.
Half of the smolts from the seven sample rivers in the north-east died before reaching the sea. The project will be unable to determine whether aquaculture is a factor in salmon mortality rates.
However, the geography of the west coast means the sea – unlike the more enclosed Moray Firth – is too open to cover every possible route with acoustic trackers.
Salmon killed by sea lice associated with farms also do not die immediately, so deaths would be likely to be much further away from the coast. Early findings from the tracking study on the
M o r a y
Firth has indicated that predators – including birds and bigger fish – are a key threat to the vulnerable smolts.
The announcement of government funding for the west coast project was made ahead of a Scottish Parliament roundtable discussion between organisations with an interest in reversing the catastrophic decline in wild salmon stocks.
Mr Bilsby said: “I thought there was good recognition that salmon are in crisis by the different NGOS, agencies and politicians that were in the room. They took it really seriously and I think there was a recognition that there needs to be a step change in management of salmon if Scotland wants to hold onto salmon.
“We are all talking but what we need to do is not talk more, we need to really focus our efforts and act with much more intensity and ambition. What we’ve got to do is give them the room and the ability to adapt to the changing world.
“That’s what they d e s p e ra t e ly n e e d , they’ve been around for millions of years and if we give them that room to adapt and they will. They’re very good at it. We just need to stop messing them up.
“It’s an indicator of our environment, of the rivers and the sea so if we mess up with salmon it’s showing that we’re messing up on an oceanic level, which is deeply worrying.”
The Scottish Government said: “The decline in the n u m b e rs of w i l d salmon returning to Scottish rivers is of great concern, and caused by a range of complex factors.
“This week’s constructive discussions will help to inform our work to develop a Wild Salmon Strategy by September 2020. We will continue to work alongside key stakeholders to do ever ything possible to safeguard the future of Scotland’s wild salmon.”