Warning salmon could disappear from UK waters within 30 years

A counting and tagging operation of juvenile wild Atlantic salmon on a top English water has been described  as ‘catastrophic’ with one expert predicting the species could disappear from rivers in the country in the next 30 years.

The annual exercise on the River Frome, in the south of England by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), has shown a dramatic decline in the number of fish being captured, indicating a worrying decline which is being reflected across the UK and Europe.

Since 2002 the CWC has spent four weeks in late summer catching, weighing and microchipping parr that have hatched in the 35 mile long chalk stream. Every year the aim is to tag 10,000, but this summer the Fish Research team only managed to scrape together 3,226 – another record low following last year’s 4,593.

Will Beaumont, the GWCT’s Senior Research Assistant said: “Last year was the worst we have ever had, but the latest has been catastrophic. This follows on from yet another year where we have seen a new record low number of adults returning from the sea to spawn, confirming the continued steep decline of salmon in our rivers.”

The number of wild Atlantic salmon have crashed by some 80% over the past 40 years. Rivers, which have had tens of thousands of salmon in the 1980’s now only have a few hundred. They are now classified as endangered in the UK and on the Red List along with elephants, pandas and polar bears.

Dylan Roberts, Head of Fisheries at GWCT, added: “This decline is alarming and if it continues salmon could disappear from our UK waters in the next 30 years. It is also sadly reflective of what’s happening in other rivers in the UK and more widely Europe.

“Almost all salmon rivers in England and Wales are classified as at risk by the Government bodies.

“The issues for salmon are many and complex. They are facing much tougher conditions in the marine environment, where global warming and concerns over bycatch are posing serious threats. But if we are able to improve conditions in our rivers, and make sure they can grow fitter, larger and stronger and reproduce in greater numbers, they will stand a better chance, once they migrate to sea, of returning in larger numbers.”