Salmon Watch Ireland

Salmon Watch Ireland Salmon Watch Ireland is a membership organisation dedicated to the restoration of salmon abundance in Ireland.

Salmon Watch Ireland is a company limited by guarantee governed by the Companies Acts. The Memorandum of Association of the company adopted at its 2007 Annual General Meeting sets out the following objectives:

• To do all things necessary to contribute to the conservation and restoration to abundance of the wild Atlantic salmon and in particular to engage in research, training, education, adv

ocacy and campaign programmes directed towards that end.
• To raise awareness among the public of the threat to stocks of wild salmon and the measures needed to restore salmon abundance, of the heritage, environmental, social, economic and recreational importance of achieving that objective and of the particular threat that would be posed to salmon stocks by any restoration of mixed stock fishing for salmon. Salmon Watch Ireland is, therefore, dedicated to salmon conservation and is not a representative organisation for anglers – a role that is filled by the country’s game angling federations. Salmon Watch Ireland is an approved NGO observer at the inter-governmental North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation and is affiliated to the Pure Salmon Campaign.

10/08/2026
This is a shocking but unsurprising item on Prime Time. Intensification of agriculture is out of control. The derogation...
31/07/2026

This is a shocking but unsurprising item on Prime Time. Intensification of agriculture is out of control. The derogation for nitrates and exponential growth of grasslands for milk production is essentially putting rivers into a spiral towards devastation. Added to this is the absence of updated waste water infrastructure.
Personal responsibility also is lacking with unsustainable use of water. It must be remembered that all used water must be treated before discharge.
Intense rainfall events do not help but infrastructure is lacking to safely manage this storm flow.
Can the situation be reversed?
Reduction of dairy farming is required
No nitrate derogation
Mandatory silt traps on all land drainage
Slow flood flow by use of leaky dams
Reintegrate flood plains
Incentivise water harvesting in urban areas.
Mandatory riparian zones on all rivers in catchment.
Upgrade WWT and mandatory management of septic systems
This is an emergency and requires concerted action.
We know there are plans to improve water quality in catchment but without mandatory rules, it will not work.
Activities which impact water quality should never be tolerated. Good farming practise in regard to slurry, yard water and chemical fertiliser are universally ignored without adequate sanction.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1EK1rZGDXd/?mibextid=wwXIfr

More rivers in Ireland are deteriorating than improving according to the latest EPA assessment

15/07/2026

Great initiate. Please share and sign the petition. Your support is needed more than ever.

Welcome to Newsletter No. 41 from Salmon Watch Ireland.As we move into the height of summer, our wild salmon and sea tro...
26/06/2026

Welcome to Newsletter No. 41 from Salmon Watch Ireland.

As we move into the height of summer, our wild salmon and sea trout face increasing challenges from warming rivers, declining marine survival and ongoing human pressures. This edition examines the latest scientific evidence, including the newly published Norwegian Scientific Advisory Committee report, which concludes that salmon farming and climate change remain the two greatest human-induced threats to wild Atlantic salmon.

We also report on the recent Joint Oireachtas hearings on aquaculture, where contrasting views were presented on the impacts of open-net salmon farming, and outline our recent submissions on proposed salmon farm developments and Ireland's Draft National Restoration Plan. In addition, we highlight a new national protocol for investigating fish kills and discuss why protecting salmon during periods of high water temperature is becoming increasingly important for both juvenile and adult fish.

As always, we thank our supporters for their continued encouragement. Your support enables us to advocate for stronger protection of Ireland's rivers and to ensure that decisions affecting wild salmon are informed by the best available science.

We hope you enjoy this edition and, as always, welcome your comments and feedback.

Welcome to Newsletter No. 41 from Salmon Watch Ireland. As we move into the height of summer, our wild salmon and sea trout face increasing challenges from warming rivers, declining marine survival and ongoing human pressures. This edition examines the latest scientific evidence, including the newly...

Norway suffering an accelerated decline - Salmon stocks in crisis.“The Harvestable Surplus Is Well on Its Way to Disappe...
18/06/2026

Norway suffering an accelerated decline - Salmon stocks in crisis.
“The Harvestable Surplus Is Well on Its Way to Disappearing in Many Places”

News
Editorial Staff
17 June 2026

A status report on Norwegian salmon stocks shows that the situation is critical, with few signs of improvement. Strict regulation of salmon fishing will continue to be necessary.

“We must reverse this negative trend before salmon fishing becomes something that belongs to the past,” Climate and Environment Minister Andreas Bjelland Eriksen told NRK.

The Scientific Advisory Committee for Atlantic Salmon Management (VRL) highlights very few positive developments in its annual status report.

“The harvestable surplus is well on its way to disappearing in many places. Fishing has never been more strictly regulated, but not enough salmon survive and return to the rivers after their time at sea,” said Hilde Singsaas, Director of the Norwegian Environment Agency.

According to the report, Norwegian salmon populations remain at a historically low level. Although the situation improved somewhat in 2025 compared with the record-low year of 2024, the number of salmon returning from the sea was still among the weakest recorded since the 1980s.

Main points noted:

The VRL (Vitenskapelig råd for lakseforvaltning / Scientific Advisory Committee for Salmon Management) report is Norway’s annual scientific assessment of wild Atlantic salmon stocks.

The 2026 report paints a very concerning picture:

* Wild salmon populations remain at historically low levels.
* Although 2025 was slightly better than the exceptionally poor 2024 season, salmon returns were still among the weakest recorded since monitoring began in the 1980s.
* Many rivers no longer have a sufficient “harvestable surplus”—the number of salmon available for fishing after enough fish have returned to spawn. The report warns that this surplus is disappearing in many areas.
* Scientists and managers say that fishing restrictions alone cannot solve the problem because too few salmon survive their marine phase and return to their natal rivers. The main pressures include:
* Salmon lice associated with aquaculture
* Climate change
* Escaped farmed salmon
* Disease transmission
* Habitat impacts and river regulation
* Invasive pink salmon in some regions

According to reporting on earlier VRL assessments, annual spawning returns have fallen dramatically—from over one million salmon in the 1980s to roughly a third of that level in recent years.

The message from Norwegian authorities is that strict fishing regulations will need to continue, and that reversing the decline is essential if wild salmon angling is to remain viable in the future.

For people involved in Atlantic salmon conservation, the most important takeaway is that the problem is increasingly viewed as a marine survival crisis, not simply a fishing-pressure issue. Even with record-low exploitation rates, too few salmon are surviving at sea and returning to spawn.

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Swords

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