Government and Regulators Continue to Fail Salmon
Following the release of the latest salmon stock assessment (25th July), the Missing Salmon Alliance is calling on the EA, NRW, Defra and the Welsh Government to formally acknowledge that salmon are facing a crisis.
The Environment Agency, along with Natural Resources Wales and CEFAS, published the latest salmon stock assessment this week (25th July). It shows a continued and dramatic decline in salmon numbers in our rivers. Only one river in England and Wales, the River Tyne, is classified as “not at risk”. Those rivers classified as being “at risk” have jumped from 20 rivers, 48% in 2020, to an alarming 31 rivers, 74% in just one year, with rivers in the southwest, northwest, and Wales being particularly badly hit.
In their briefing the Environment Agency claim, “Protecting and enhancing salmon has been a priority for the Environment Agency and NRW.” But today’s assessment show that it’s a priority that simply isn’t working.
Stuart Singleton-White, Head of Campaigns at the Angling Trust (MSA Member), said, “The Environment Agency published its salmon five-point approach in 2015, NRW have their salmon and sea trout plan of action, and both have signed up to the NASCO management plan. They claim that for over a decade they have worked closely together to, in their own words ‘identify and implement actions to stabilise and protect threatened salmon stocks wherever possible.’ Yet from a decade or more of implementing actions, things have got worse.”
Mark Owen, Head of Fisheries at Angling Trust, added, “Whilst we welcome the actions taken to remove barriers and improve water quality, too often, this is piecemeal and does not form part of a comprehensive management plan for our salmon rivers. It is notable the one river that has improved, the Tyne, has done so, not because of restrictions on anglers, but due to improvement to water quality in the estuary. And while the success of Unlocking the Severn project is welcome, we need to see this type of approach across all our salmon rivers.”
As one such priority, Missing Salmon Alliance member, Fish Legal, are pushing for free passage for salmon migrating to and from their spawning grounds on the River Eden in Cumbria, leading a legal campaign to #BreakThroughTheCorbyWeir. The campaign’s objective is to ease fish migration at Corby Weir near Wetheral, which is a major obstacle for them in the highly protected river. Corby Weir was built in just three months by the Environment Agency in 1996 and completed eighteen months before the River Eden was designated as a Special Area of Conservation. It has very limited use except as an Agency gauging station.
The Missing Salmon Alliance is calling on the EA, NRW, Defra and the Welsh Government to formally acknowledge this is a crisis. It sits at the heart of both the climate and biodiversity crisis and the governments must make more funding and greater capacity available to respond to the alarming decline in salmon numbers in England and Wales, over a timescale that will give salmon a chance. That means now.
The UK government is committed to halting the decline in biodiversity by 2030 and increasing its abundance by 10 per cent by 2042. Yet, currently, that does not include salmon. This is a serious concern and one the government needs to change its position on.
As an Alliance of six 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