Fisheries Management Planning
Scotland’s wild Atlantic salmon are in crisis — facing pressures from environmental change, degraded habitats, and increasing human impact. In response, Fisheries Management Scotland has led a step-change in how we understand, plan, and act. Our new generation of interactive Fisheries Management Plans, supported by a real-time National Dashboard, is transforming how salmon conservation is delivered on the ground and at scale.
The Challenge
Fisheries management planning in Scotland was once a fragmented process. Plans were created as static documents by individual organisations, with limited consistency, visibility, or ability to adapt over time. The format made it difficult for policymakers, stakeholders, and funders to engage, let alone compare priorities, identify funding gaps, or target investment effectively. While they served a purpose, they couldn’t keep pace with the growing complexity of the salmon crisis — or support a truly national, coordinated response. That’s why we built something different.
The Solution
Our solution is rooted in transformation — turning outdated documents into living, strategic tools. This new approach changes everything. For the first time, Scotland has a unified view and roadmap for salmon conservation. Plans are no longer “done once and filed away”; they’re dynamic, visible, and adaptable.
Local Fisheries Management Plans
Between 2023 and 2024, a new generation of Fisheries Management Plans was developed for 44 fisheries districts. Created by District Salmon Fishery Boards and Fisheries Trusts and using a shared digital framework from Fisheries Management Scotland and the Scottish Fisheries Coordination Centre, these plans are grounded in local knowledge, supported by national coordination, and funded by the Scottish Government and Crown Estate Scotland.
Each plan is hosted as an interactive ESRI StoryMap, tailored to local conditions. It outlines the historical context and management structure of the catchment, species and population data, key pressures affecting river systems and the priority actions needed to restore them, while linking to broader goals such as climate resilience, biodiversity recovery, and sustainable land use. Designed to evolve over time, these plans are living tools built for long-term river management in a changing world.
National Dashboard
The plans are supported by a real-time National Priority Actions Dashboard that brings together over 1,300 interventions into a single platform — enabling managers, communities, and investors to understand what’s needed, where, and at what cost.
This tool supports decision-making at every level: from local managers tracking progress, to policymakers setting strategy, to investors identifying ready-to-fund nature projects. It’s a game-changer for delivering salmon recovery at scale.
