Salmon numbers at 11-year high

Scientists from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Salmon & Trout research Centre on the River Frome in Dorset have just completed their 2010 salmon research report, which shows the highest increase of adult salmon since 1998, with more than 1000 fish returning to the river from the sea.

This is the 38th consecutive year that researchers have recorded data on upstream salmon migration in the river.

In the early 1990s there was a significant crash in salmon numbers in the North Atlantic and from an average of nearly 2000 fish per year the Frome numbers dropped to a low of just 500 fish.

The 2010 data is thus showing an encouraging upturn in the number of fish returning to the river.  In addition, the count of emigrating salmon smolts also showed an increase, with 13,265 smolts were counted emigrating out to sea during April and May.