Defra respond to our letter on the plight of the Atlantic Salmon

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Earlier this month, the NGO wrote to Defra’s Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner, highlighting our fears about the alarming decline in the number of Atlantic Salmon in England’s rivers.

We were concerned about the Atlantic Salmon’s recent reclassification as ‘Endangered’ in Great Britain by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and raised with him a recent NGO survey which highlights the significant impact that predators including otters, cormorants, goosanders and seals are having on salmon and trout populations.

We asked for Mr Zeichner’s support in raising awareness of this issue and advocating for measures that can enhance the survival of Atlantic Salmon in England’s rivers. The NGO  also urged the government to consider increased funding for river restoration projects, stricter controls on predatory species, smolt release in salmon fisheries and policies that support sustainable fishery management.

We were disappointed, therefore, by the response from Defra, which stated that the government “has no current plans to review laws which afford protection to piscine predators”, and which did not acknowledge that the actions currently being taken by Defra to protect salmon and trout are failing to improve the situation.

Defra highlighted the fact that licences related to predation issues are issued by Natural England to target specific locations at times when migrating salmon are most vulnerable, and that these licensing returns are monitored. The returns indicate that generally only 75% - 85% of the cormorants that Natural England issue a licence to shoot are actually killed.

As such, a review which considered adding cormorant and goosander to the General Licence rejected the change, as there was “insufficient evidence and that to do so would pose a risk to the cormorant’s conservation status”.

Bearing this in mind, we would encourage people to apply for predator control licences where applicable, to ensure that any data collected by Defra reflects the real situation on the ground.

The letter highlighted the fact that Defra’s priorities “include cleaning up Britain’s rivers, lakes, and seas and ensuring nature’s recovery, which will benefit salmon”, as well as the fact that the UK will this year be hosting the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) annual meeting in Cardiff next June.

The letter also stated that they would urge us and our members to “prioritise efforts that support the restoration and protection of natural habitats over stocking initiatives”, and pointed to the Landscape Recovery scheme which “offers farmers and land managers the opportunity to collaborate across landscape-scale projects to deliver ambitious environmental outcomes.”

Although we are disappointed that there isn't a more strategic plan to improve the plight of England's Atlantic Salmon, we welcome Defra's responses, and look forward to working closely with the department. We encourage all of our members to continue with the important conservation work which we know happens on a daily basis, particularly the habitat and river resoration work. 

Note to Editors:

The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation: The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) represents the gamekeepers of England and Wales. The NGO defends and promotes gamekeeping and gamekeepers and works to ensure high standards throughout the profession. The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation was founded in 1997 by a group of gamekeepers who felt that keepering was threatened by public misunderstanding and poor representation. Today, the organisation has are around 13,000 members.
www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk