Posted on 2nd Apr 2018

It’s time to solve the mystery of our missing salmon

Somewhere on their journey, wild salmon numbers are being decimated. For every 100 salmon that leave our rivers for the sea, less than five return – a decline of nearly 70% in just 25 years.

The warning is stark. If this trend continues, one of our most iconic species could become endangered in our lifetime.

What needs to be done?

The race is now on for scientists to solve the mystery of the missing salmon before it’s too late. We must take action on a scale never seen before in order to identify what is happening to wild salmon and determine how to halt this species’ decline. Put simply, if we can find out what is happening on the salmon’s journey to the sea, we can take steps to help increase survival.

The task at hand is momentous but the action needed is perfectly clear. We urgently need to know:
• What are the migration pathways our smolts use?
• How do we quantify the major impacts on their mortality during this journey?
• How to improve their survival rate so more fish return?

It’s easy for many to speculate on the cause of wild salmon’s decline, but unfounded speculation cannot and will not solve this problem.

The Missing Salmon Project

The Missing Salmon Project is the largest acoustic tracking project for salmon in Europe and will track smolts further than ever before. The tagging project commenced in Spring 2019 in the Moray Firth – the route taken by 20% of all salmon that leave the UK. The lessons learned from the study in the Moray Firth will provide valuable insights that are transferable to other populations of salmon around the UK.

Find our latest 2020 developments here

It’s time to solve the mystery of the missing salmon.