National Electrofishing Programme for Scotland (NEPS) 2021: analysis

The National Electrofishing Programme for Scotland (NEPS) is a statistical survey design that ensures collection of unbiased data on the density and status of salmon and the pressures that affect them, including water quality and genetic introgression. This report presents the latest analysis.


Acknowledgements

NEPS 2018 field data collection was supported by funding from the Scottish Government, SEPA and SNH. NEPS 2019 and NEPS 2021 field data collection were funded by Marine Scotland and Crown Estate Scotland (CES).

The NEPS survey design, project management, data analysis and reporting were funded by Marine Scotland Science under Service Level Agreement (SLA) FW02g.

Janey Keay, Caro Middlemas, Pauline Proudlock, Denise Stirling and Jill Watson are thanked for logistical support and expert water quality analyses.

Stephen McLaren and John Muir are thanked for their assistance with data entry and preparing templates for the FishObs Data Processing Utility (DPU).

John Gilbey is thanked for comments on an early draft of the report.

Fisheries Management Scotland are thanked for their role in facilitating the management of NEPS in 2021.

We would like to thank Michael Dumelle and developers at spsurvey for maintaining, improving and supporting the package used to design and analyse data from NEPS and for responding to queries as they arose.

The following collaborating organisations are thanked for their valuable efforts in facilitating or delivering data collection for NEPS 2018: West Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Northern District Salmon Fishery Board; Caithness District Salmon Fishery Board; Helmsdale District Salmon Fishery Board; Brora District Salmon Fishery Board; Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Cromarty Firth Fisheries Trust; Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust; Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Trust; Spey Foundation; The Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust; Ugie District Salmon Fishery Board; Ythan District Fishery Board; River Dee Trust; The Esk Rivers & Fisheries Trust; Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board; Forth Fisheries Trust; Tweed Foundation; The River Annan Trust; Nith Catchment Fisheries Trust; Galloway Fisheries Trust; Ayrshire Rivers Trust; Clyde River Foundation; Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust; Argyll Fisheries Trust; Lochaber Fisheries Trust; Skye & Wester Ross Fisheries Trust; Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust; Waterside Ecology Independent Ecological Consultants.

The following collaborating organisations are thanked for their valuable efforts in facilitating or delivering data collection for NEPS 2019: West Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Northern District Salmon Fishery Board; Caithness District Salmon Fishery Board; Helmsdale District Salmon Fishery Board; Brora District Salmon Fishery Board; Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Cromarty Firth District Salmon Fishery Board; Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust; Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Trust; Nairn District Salmon Fishery Board; Spey Foundation; The Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust; Ugie District Salmon Fishery Board; Ythan District Fishery Board; River Dee Trust; The Esk Rivers & Fisheries Trust; Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board; Forth Rivers Trust; Tweed Foundation; The River Annan Trust; Nith Catchment Fisheries Trust; Galloway Fisheries Trust; Ayrshire Rivers Trust; Clyde River Foundation; Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust; Argyll Fisheries Trust; Lochaber Fisheries Trust; Skye & Wester Ross Fisheries Trust; Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust; University of the Highlands and Islands – The Rivers and Lochs Institute.

The following collaborating organisations are thanked for their valuable efforts in facilitating or delivering data collection for NEPS 2021: West Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Northern District Salmon Fishery Board; Caithness District Salmon Fishery Board; Helmsdale District Salmon Fishery Board; Brora District Salmon Fishery Board; Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Cromarty Firth District Salmon Fisheries Board; Ness District Salmon Fishery Board; Beauly District Salmon Fishery Board; Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Trust; Nairn District Salmon Fishery Board; Spey Foundation; The Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust; Ugie District Salmon Fishery Board; Ythan District Fishery Board; River Dee Trust; The Esk Rivers & Fisheries Trust; Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board; Forth Rivers Trust; Tweed Foundation; Nith Catchment Fisheries Trust; Galloway Fisheries Trust; Ayrshire Rivers Trust; Clyde River Foundation; Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust; Argyll Fisheries Trust; Lochaber Fisheries Trust; Skye and Lochalsh Fisheries Trust; Wester Ross Fisheries Trust; Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust

Finally, we would like to thank staff at CEH, SEPA and the MET Office for providing discharge and rainfall data.

Contact

Email: neps@gov.scot

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