Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar L.) populations in Scotland are subject to active management and conservation practices which require biological reference points (BRPs), specifically conservation limits, defined at the level of the stock. Acquiring the data necessary to independently derive these BRPs for all managed populations in Scotland is prohibitive, motivating the use of Bayesian hierarchical stock–recruitment models. The...

There is some evidence that the river migration success of Atlantic salmon smolts, on their first migration to sea, varies both spatially and temporally. However, we have only a poor understanding of what may be driving this variation. In this study, we used acoustic telemetry to quantify the spatial and temporal variations in river migration success in Atlantic salmon smolts on their first migration to sea. In total 4120 Atla...

The migratory behavior of Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) post‐smolts in coastal waters is poorly understood. In this collaborative study, 1914 smolts, from 25 rivers, in four countries were tagged with acoustic transmitters during a single seasonal migration. In total, 1105 post‐smolts entered the marine study areas and 438 (39.6%) were detected on a network of 414 marine acoustic receivers and an autonomous underwater vehicl...

Trap and transport, the capture and subsequent translocation of fish during the freshwater phase of their migration, is becoming more common as a management intervention. Although the technique can be successful, it is costly and can have unintended effects on the fish being transported. This study investigates whether trap and transport can be used to increase the migration success of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar , smolts in...

The freshwater phase of the first seaward migration of juvenile Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) is relatively well understood when compared with our understanding of the marine phase of their migration. In 2021, 1008 wild and 60 ranched Atlantic salmon smolts were tagged with acoustic transmitters in 12 rivers in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Large marine receiver arrays were deployed in the Irish Sea at two...