THERE has been a significant drop in salmon returning to a river in Dorset, according to a long-term monitoring project's report.

The number of wild adult Atlantic salmon returning to the River Frome in Dorset in 2021 was down almost 20 per cent on its 10-year average, according to a report published by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) in its 2021 Fisheries Research Review.

This drop echoes reports from Scotland and Norway where the 2021 annual salmon catches were the lowest on record.

The GWCT say that data a clear message that 2021 was a very poor year for returning Atlantic salmon and says it further highlights the growing need for targeted action to protect the species.

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Juvenile Atlantic salmon smolts migrating to sea from the River Frome in 2021 were also 30 per cent below the 10-year average. Meaning that expectations for adult returns from this smolt cohort, as grilse in 2022 and multi-sea-winter salmon in 2023, are low.

Based at the Salmon & Trout Research Centre at East Stoke near Wareham on the River Frome in Dorset, the GWCT Fisheries Team is responsible for one of the longest running salmon monitoring projects in the UK.

The River Frome is a salmon index river and provides data on marine survival rates for Atlantic salmon to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). ICES uses River Frome data, along with other salmon data from the North Atlantic, to provide scientific advice on high seas exploitation.

However, Rasmus Lauridsen, head of GWCT Fisheries Research, said that there are also some more positive signs from recent monitoring.

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Mr Laurisden said: “Although we had a disappointing adult salmon run in 2021, we encountered good numbers of salmon parr in our annual parr tagging campaign in September, indicating excellent recruitment from the salmon which reproduced in 2020. So we are expecting a strong run of out-migrating salmon smolts in 2022.”

As a founding member of the Missing Salmon Alliance (MSA) the GWCT Fisheries Research Review also reports on the evolution of the MSA’s Likely Suspects Framework. The framework is developing ways to predict future salmon marine survival using indicators of ecosystem health and life cycle knowledge to improve decision making tools for salmon management.