The Fisheries Management Scotland annual conference – Cold, Clean Water – Steering the Future for Scotland’s Rivers – was held in Spring 2024 and was opened by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands, Mairi Gougeon MSP. 

The event brought together fisheries managers, Scottish Government officials, key agencies and businesses operating in Scotland to discuss the deepening crisis facing Scotland’s wild salmon and freshwater fish and highlighted actions to help achieve a brighter future for these iconic fish. This crisis is not unique to salmon but is impacting wider biodiversity. Our conference covered some of the big challenges and threats faced by the species – including illegal activity, invasive pink salmon, disease and parasites – but crucially looked to the future to identity solutions. The recent decision earlier this year by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to re-classify Atlantic salmon creates greater urgency for action to be taken – the main UK population of Atlantic salmon has now been reclassified as endangered and global Atlantic salmon populations reclassified from least concern to near threatened. The presentations from the conference were filmed and are now available online to view on our YouTube channel.