Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what research programmes on the decline of salmon stocks in English rivers his Department is currently allocating funding to.

Defra funds research conducted by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and the Environment Agency to address factors contributing to the decline of salmon in English rivers. Factors, such as water quality, migration barriers, marine survival and exploitation are addressed in Defra’s 5 year Implementation Plan for Salmon Management in England and Wales, conducted by Cefas for the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation. Progress on these plans is reported on annually.

Projects Defra is currently funding include:

- Anthropogenic Factors – ‘Prioritising the management of salmonid based on the relative impacts of anthropogenic factors’

- Stock assessment methodology improvement – ‘Genetic sex ratio analysis of salmon smolts and adults’

- Climate Change – ‘Predicted effects of Climate Change on UK diadromous fish populations’