Wild salmon strategy implementation plan: annual progress report 2024
The second annual progress report under the Scottish wild salmon strategy implementation plan covering progress in 2024.
The Status of Salmon in Scotland in 2024
The Scottish Government publishes an annual overview of the status of wild Atlantic salmon in Scotland, based on data collected from rod fisheries and fish counters to support national and international management and conservation efforts.
As outlined in the most recent report (published in August 2024), the total number of salmon returning to Scottish coastal waters has declined since estimates began in the 1970s. Similar declines have been observed throughout the North Atlantic, partially attributed to climate change affecting oceanic conditions. Initially, interventions such as promoting the practice of catch and release and a reduction in commercial fishing effort meant that the numbers of spawners remained broadly stable whilst the numbers of fish returning to the coast declined. However, the numbers of spawners have also declined in recent years (Figure 1).
The conservation status of salmon stocks in Scotland is assessed on a river-by-river basis, except for those areas where fishery catch cannot be assigned to individual rivers. In such cases, rivers are combined to form assessment groups. Special Areas of Conservation are also assessed separately. The majority (68%) of the 173 salmon stocks were assessed to be in poor conservation status for the 2025 angling season. Only 17% of stocks were in good conservation status (down from 35% in 2017) but it should be noted that this 17% of stocks contains approximately 80% of Scotland's salmon.