On November 26, the newly formed Missing Salmon Alliance launched their plan of action designed to tackle the alarming decline in wild Atlantic Salmon numbers, to over 150 delegates from key organisations in salmon conservation, at a landmark conference held at Fishmongers’ Hall.
The Missing Salmon Alliance, established with support from the Fishmongers’ Company, brings together the Atlantic Salmon Trust, Salmon & Trout Conservation, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Angling Trust and Fish Legal to address the 88% decline in Atlantic Salmon numbers since the 1970s.
The Prince of Wales, Patron of the Atlantic Salmon Trust and Salmon & Trout Conservation, said in a video message to the Forum which launched the Missing Salmon Alliance:
“The very future of a species that has been swimming in our oceans and seas for over 6 million years will be in jeopardy … We simply cannot allow this to happen in our lifetime. Having our four leading salmon conservation organisations working together, through the Missing Salmon Alliance with support from both the private and public sectors is hugely encouraging.”
Central to the Missing Salmon Alliance is the Likely Suspects Framework, a programme that will work with international scientists and researchers to identify the key pressures on the Atlantic salmon’s life cycle and use this to direct action to where it is most needed to begin to reverse this decline in population.
The framework builds on the findings of the Moray Firth Tracking Programme, which tracks salmon smolts progress from their spawning grounds out to see. The initial findings of this study, supported by the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust, were shared at the conference
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