Wild Salmon Migration Barriers and Welfare

Dams, weirs, and other barriers prevent salmon from accessing historic spawning grounds, causing physiological stress and contributing to serious population declines.

Key Facts

Over 50% of Atlantic salmon's historic river range is now inaccessible due to barriers
A migrating salmon may encounter dozens of obstacles on a single river journey
The physiological effort of jumping or waiting at barriers exhausts energy reserves
Blocked salmon that cannot spawn suffer reproductive frustration and die without breeding
River restoration and barrier removal has produced measurable salmon population recovery

Welfare Considerations

Salmon migration is a physiologically extreme endeavour — fish travel hundreds of kilometres without feeding, transforming their bodies for freshwater, and navigating obstacles using magnetic field sensing. Barriers that interrupt this journey cause acute distress, energy depletion, injury from repeated jumping attempts, and ultimately reproductive failure. The welfare case for barrier removal aligns perfectly with conservation imperatives. Every barrier removed represents welfare improvement for thousands of individual fish.

What You Can Do

Support river restoration organisations working on barrier removal
Advocate for fish pass requirements in all river management schemes
Report barriers that lack functional fish passes to the Environment Agency
Donate to wild salmon conservation and river restoration projects
Reduce farmed salmon consumption to decrease pressure on wild stocks