World Fish Migration Day
Ahead of World Fish Migration Day (25th May 2024), the Missing Salmon Alliance (MSA) has urged environmental stakeholders to recognise the staggering collapse in migratory fish populations, particularly wild Atlantic salmon, which threatens the health of critical ecosystems, through organisational representation at The UK River Summit (21st May 2024).
Image credit: Lucy Young Photos
The new Living Planet Index (LPI) report on freshwater migratory fishes reveals a staggering 81% collapse in monitored population sizes on average between 1970 to 2020, including catastrophic declines of 91% in Latin America and the Caribbean and 75% in Europe. Now, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) have reclassified (2023) the status of Atlantic salmon from “Least Concern” since 2014, to “Near Threatened” at a Global scale and “Endangered” in Great Britain.
Habitat loss and degradation – including fragmentation of rivers by dams and other barriers and conversion of wetlands for agriculture – account for half of the threats to migratory fishes, followed by over-exploitation. Increasing pollution and the worsening impacts of climate change are also fuelling the fall in freshwater migratory fish species, which have now been declining consistently for 30 years.
In light of the situation and ahead of World Fish Migration Day, key Missing Salmon Alliance members the Angling Trust, Fish Legal, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Atlantic Salmon Trust, Fisheries Management Scotland and the Rivers Trust came together at The UK River Summit at Morden Hall, London this week (21st May 2024) to convey this message. MSA members shared in depth knowledge of the situation under the surface for a key species in decline, and the need for free access to cold, clean water for their survival.
Stuart Singleton-White, Head of Campaigns at MSA member, the Angling Trust said “Migratory fish have declined by 75% in Europe since 1970. We need cold, clean water and rivers that run free to save our iconic fish. We call on the government to make migratory fish, in particular Atlantic salmon, a conservation priority.”
Dylan Roberts, Head of Fisheries at MSA member, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust said “We need to do what we can to protect what is left, and the only way we can do that is by working together. The UK River Summit is the perfect platform for collaboration and an independent space for a variety of stakeholders to come together to directly discuss the issues facing our waterways and the species within them. From this, we hope to see meaningful change.”