"First of its kind" alliance working to save wild Atlantic salmon from extinction launches it flagship project

A group of conservation organisations working together to save wild Atlantic salmon has launched its flagship project.
By Sophie McCandlish
Published 16th Dec 2020, 06:00 BST
Updated 16th Dec 2020, 09:12 BST

The Missing Salmon Alliance (MSA), which is made up of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), the Angling Trust and the Atlantic Salmon Trust, has outlined the Likely Suspects Framework on its new website. The initiative brings together the alliance’s collective work to halt the decline of the wild salmon.

It is the first time that conservation organisations have come together to drive action in saving wild Atlantic salmon from extinction.

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Dylan Roberts, the head of fisheries for the GWCT, said: “I have always endorsed the need for closer working relationships between the organisations involved in trying to stem the decline in our wild salmon populations. The formation of the MSA is a huge positive step in this direction.”

The alliance between Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Angling Trust and the Atlantic Salmon Trust.The alliance between Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Angling Trust and the Atlantic Salmon Trust.
The alliance between Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Angling Trust and the Atlantic Salmon Trust.

Since 1970, numbers of adult Atlantic salmon returning to the nation’s rivers has fallen by as much as 88 per cent.

Stuart Singleton-White, the head of campaigns at the Angling Trust, said: “Across Europe we have seen a decline in migratory fish numbers of over 90 per cent and it is not an exaggeration to say this fish is in crisis.

“Atlantic salmon are a key species not only in our rivers and seas, but for the many terrestrial species that rely on salmon and the environment needed for salmon to thrive. Atlantic salmon matter, they matter economically, they matter culturally, and they matter because they are a litmus test on just how serious we are about reversing the global decline in biodiversity.”

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