Still little salmon among students in southern Norway

A status report from the Norwegian Institute for Natural Research (Nina) concludes on Friday that consent is low in large parts of the country. Insight refers to the number of wild salmon that the students swim up.

– The general impression is that the catch of medium and large salmon is weak south of Nordland. Here, almost all catch reports and counts point to a low catch so far, the report says.

The Norwegian Environment Agency closed the 33 largest rivers in southern Norway to fishing at the end of June due to reports of few salmon this year. On Tuesday, the directorate will decide whether the rivers will be reopened.

Big salmon means more than before

When the objection is lower than normal, it means that fewer salmon than expected or desired have returned to the rivers. This can be worrying for the fish stocks and ecosystems that depend on a healthy salmon population.

In most watercourses, there is a strong reliance on the spawning of medium and large salmon to achieve the spawning stock targets, according to the report. The importance of such large salmon has increased in recent years, also in waterways that have previously been assessed as small salmon waterways, it says.

Varies more in the north

North of Trøndelag, according to the report, it is difficult to give a clear picture. This is because the catch varies so much between the waterways, and most of the catch normally takes place from July onwards in the season.

– However, things look better in Troms and Western Finnmark than other parts of the country, while in the Varangerfjord there are so far signs that indicate significantly less salmon than before, the report says.

Several measures are being considered

The report from Nina forms much of the basis for the decision the Norwegian Environment Agency will now take.

Lower catches can be due to a number of factors such as overfishing, climate change, disease, pollution or loss of habitat.

Several options are being considered: It may be appropriate to continue the closure of all 33 rivers, open some to fishing, or see if even more rivers are closed.