Wildlife

Wild Atlantic Salmon River Welfare

Atlantic salmon face multiple threats in rivers including barriers, predation and disease affecting individual and population welfare.

Key Facts

Atlantic salmon populations in UK rivers have declined by over 70% since the 1970s
Barriers including weirs and dams prevent upstream migration to spawning grounds
Sea lice from salmon farms have been implicated in wild salmon smolt mortality in some rivers
Predation by recovering seal, cormorant and goosander populations affects some river populations
Climate change is warming rivers beyond salmon thermal tolerance thresholds in some catchments

Welfare Considerations

Individual wild salmon face exhausting upstream migrations through increasingly hostile river environments. Barriers force fish to attempt repeated leaping that exhausts energy reserves. Those that cannot pass barriers die without spawning, representing both individual welfare loss and population-level reproductive failure.

What You Can Do

Support Atlantic Salmon Trust and Salmon and Trout Conservation campaigns
Advocate for government investment in barrier removal programmes on salmon rivers
Choose certified wild salmon from verified sustainable sources if consuming wild salmon
Record salmon sightings and barrier locations to your local river trust