{"id":13072,"date":"2019-02-15T07:00:08","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T06:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flyfishing-blog.com\/flyfishing-blog.com\/?p=13072"},"modified":"2019-02-13T17:09:20","modified_gmt":"2019-02-13T16:09:20","slug":"new-research-shows-young-salmon-survival-is-surprisingly-low-when-migrating-to-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyfishing-blog.com\/flyfishing-blog.com\/2019\/02\/15\/new-research-shows-young-salmon-survival-is-surprisingly-low-when-migrating-to-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"New research shows young salmon survival is surprisingly low when migrating to sea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Inland Fisheries Ireland hosts international scientists as innovative project gives insight into salmon migration journey during International Year of the Salmon.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new study shows low salmon survival leaving freshwater is an\nimportant factor in declining European salmon populations, according\nto early results from a project examining the early migration phase\nof salmon smolts (young salmon) from rivers across Europe. Leading\nsalmon scientists from Denmark, Spain, Sweden, UK and Ireland are\ntoday attending an important meeting in Dublin, hosted by Inland\nFisheries Ireland, to mark International Year of the Salmon. The\nscientists will discuss some of their new findings from the\ninternational SMOLTRACK project, the results of which reveal factors\nin the known decline of salmon stocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SMOLTRACK Project, which is funded by the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) \/ EU, aims to help determine the survival rates of young salmon as they move from rivers into the marine environment. Work commenced in 2017 and early results show that survival during movement from rivers to the sea is lower than expected. While it was already accepted that salmon are impacted by a number of factors when they migrate at sea including the effects of climate change, limited feeding opportunities and sea lice induced by fish farms, the low survival rate in river systems which is presenting in this research is a new development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A salmon smolt.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The low survival of smolts in some river systems could be\nattributed to changes in temperature and flow while predators have\nalso been shown to impact on the numbers entering the sea. The\nsurvival of smolts varies by catchment and in a bad year, survival of\nsmolts can be three times lower than in a good year. These results\nwill be published in international journals on completion of the\nresearch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The international project sees scientists from each participating country tag salmon smolts with miniaturised acoustic and radio transmitter tags in rivers in their own country, and track their migration journey through the lower parts of rivers, estuaries and coastal areas. This study includes populations in Southern Europe which are most vulnerable to climate change. In Ireland, this work is being carried out in the River Erriff, Inland Fisheries Ireland\u2019s National Salmonid Index Catchment (NSIC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"River<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

River Erriff National Salmonid Index Catchment.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the activity in Ireland, tagging is being carried\nout on the River Bush (Northern Ireland), River Tamar (England),\nRiver Ulla and River Minho (Spain), River G\u00f6ta and River H\u00f6gvads\u00e5n\n(Sweden), River Skjern and River Storaa (Denmark).  This\ninformation will help scientists to understand the survival rates of\nsalmon smolts during their migrations under varying conditions\nranging from cooler climates in Sweden to warmer climate in Spain.\nAlready SMOLTRACK is providing new data on the initial migration of\nsalmon smolts which will inform future management and conservation\nmeasures for this iconic species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr William Roche, Senior Research Officer at Inland Fisheries\nIreland said: \u201cUnderstanding and comparing early marine survival of\nsalmon in EU waters is a key output of this project in addition to\nproviding data on smolt run timing and migration behaviour. The\nproject has established a European-wide counting, tagging and\ntracking system to monitor smolts and will also contribute to\nunderstanding of the possible impacts of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Cathal Gallagher, Head of Research and Development at Inland\nFisheries Ireland said: \u201cWe have seen a substantial reduction in\nthe numbers of salmon returning to Irish shores in recent decades.\nThis project is examining what is happening to our young salmon as\nthey migrate to sea and what the international community needs to do\nto help salmon populations. While this research identifies issues in\nearly mortality of salmon, this part of a salmon\u2019s life cycle is\nwhere management actions can be targeted to support the future of\nthese salmon stocks. International Year of the Salmon offers an\nopportunity to share knowledge across the Northern Hemisphere with a\nview to inspiring action and collaboration with positive effect on\nsalmon survival.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International Year of the Salmon is a joint world-wide initiative\nof the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) and\nthe North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) alongside other\npartners across the globe, creating an international framework for\ncollaborative outreach and research. It is hoped that IYS will raise\nawareness of what humans can do to ensure salmon and their habitats\nare conserved and restored against a backdrop of several\nenvironmental factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information about the SMOLTRACK project, visit\nhttp:\/\/www.fisheriesireland.ie\/Fisheries-Research\/smoltrack-project.html<\/a>\nand to find out more about International Year of the Salmon, go to\nwww.fisheriesireland.ie\/iys<\/a>\nand www.yearofthesalmon.org<\/a>\n.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#yearofthesalmon #salmonandpeople<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source:\nhttp:\/\/www.fishinginireland.info<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inland Fisheries Ireland hosts international scientists as innovative project gives insight into salmon migration journey during International Year of the Salmon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13074,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[14,310,3082,17,3404],"class_list":["post-13072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-irish","tag-migration","tag-research","tag-salmon","tag-smolt"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t