ES RDE 119 - Fishery independent monitoring for salmon stock assessment

Environment Agency Self-Service Direct Award.

Ministerial Direction instructs the Environment Agency to assess the status of salmon

stocks in English rivers annually. This is currently assessed by comparing estimates of

annual egg deposition to conservation targets, based on the number of eggs that need to

be deposited over time to support sustainable populations. Annual egg deposition is

primarily estimated using angler catch data, informed by some fishery independent data

collected to parameterise the model. However, as salmon populations decline nationwide,

angler catch records are increasingly failing to provide sufficient data to run meaningful

stock assessments, particularly on small rivers. Angler catch records are expected to

reduce still further as our climate warms; catch-and-release salmon fisheries close in high

water temperatures to mitigate risks to fish. Temperature related fishery closures are

pro