Annual Counting and Tagging of Juvenile Wild Atlantic Salmon on the River Frome in Dorset Shows Dramatic Decline for Second Year in a Row
The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) has announced a concerning trend for the wild Atlantic salmon population in the UK and Europe. The annual counting and tagging of juvenile salmon on the River Frome in Dorset has shown a dramatic decline in numbers for the second year in a row.
Since 2002, the GWCT has spent four weeks in late summer catching, weighing, measuring, and microchipping the juvenile salmon, known as parr, that have hatched in this 35-mile long chalk stream during winter and spring. The aim is to tag 10,000 salmon parr each year, but this summer, the Fish Research team only managed to tag 3,226 parr. This is another record low after only finding 4,593 parr last year.
GWCT’s Senior Research Assistant Will Beaumont is leading the fieldwork, which took place between 22 August and 17 September. He expresses concern over the decline, stating, “Last year was the worst we’ve ever had, but this year has been catastrophic.” He adds, “This follows on from yet another year where we have seen a new record low number of adults returning from sea to spawn, confirming the continued steep decline of salmon in our rivers.”
The decline in wild Atlantic salmon populations has been ongoing for the past 40 years, with numbers crashing by 80%. Rivers that once had tens of thousands of salmon now only have a few hundred. The species is now classified as endangered in the UK and on the IUCN Red list, alongside other threatened species such as elephants, pandas, and polar bears.
To try and identify the cause of the decline and find ways to reverse it, GWCT’s Fisheries Research department has been studying the health and lifecycle of this iconic species since 1973. They have been PIT tagging salmon since 2002, providing data going back over 50 years and making the Frome monitoring program one of the most comprehensive in Europe.
According to Dylan Roberts, Head of Fisheries at GWCT, the decline in wild Atlantic salmon is alarming, and if it continues, the species could disappear from UK rivers within the next 30 years. He adds, “This is sadly reflective of what’s happening in other rivers in the UK and more widely in Europe. Almost all salmon rivers in England and Wales are classified as at risk by the Government bodies.”
The issues facing salmon are complex, with tougher conditions in the marine environment due to global warming and concerns over bycatch. However, improving conditions in rivers and ensuring that salmon can reproduce in greater numbers can give them a better chance of survival. The GWCT has seen first-hand the changes in the physical nature of the River Frome, including a huge increase in algae growth between spring and autumn, which smothers the riverbed and shades the plants that are crucial habitats for juvenile salmon and their food.
Excessive algae also reduces the amount of oxygen available to fish, which can stress, reduce growth, and even kill fish, especially during the warmer months. The GWCT believes that tackling these issues on a landscape and catchment-wide scale is crucial. They have been working on this for the past decade through farmer clusters and, more recently, the Environmental Farmers Group (EFG).
Ian Baggs, a dairy farmer near the River Frome, believes that farmers have an obligation to do the right thing and secure the long-term sustainability of farming. He has made changes on his farm, such as planting deep-rooted grass and grazing his cows in different pastures to reduce runoff and improve the river’s health. However, he also acknowledges that farmers need adequate financial support and expert guidance to do more.
To address these issues, the GWCT developed the Farmer Cluster concept in 2012, facilitating groups of contiguous landholders to work together to save threatened species in their local area. They also supported the launch of the farmer-led cooperative Environmental Farmers Group (EFG) in 2022, which represents 541 farmers over an area of 341,404 hectares and provides a mechanism for delivering national targets on net zero, biodiversity recovery, and clean rivers.
Colin Smart, from the Environmental Farmers Group Dorset, says that they are planning to develop a catchment conservation plan for the Frome with the advice and input of GWCT fisheries. He adds, “With a sufficient blend of investment from both the private and public sector, the catchment plan has the potential to reverse the catastrophic decline of salmon in the Frome, which is an indication of the poor health of the entire river system.”
The GWCT’s salmon monitoring work is part of a “Core Salmon Rivers” research program in partnership with the Atlantic Salmon Trust and the Missing Salmon Alliance. Clare Scott, a facilitator for the Devil and Chesel Farmer Cluster in Dor
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