Policy – July 15, 2026
Scotland: new DNA study backs conservation stocking for endangered salmon rivers
New DNA analysis from a long-running Scottish conservation project suggests that carefully managed salmon stocking programmes could help prevent the loss of critically endangered wild populations without reducing marine survival, challenging a longstanding concern over the practice.
Researchers at the UHI Inverness Institute for Biodiversity and Freshwater Conservation found that 40% of smolts migrating from the River Carron between 2016 and 2018, and 46% of returning adult salmon between 2017 and 2020, originated from the river's conservation stocking programme. The findings indicate the stocked fish survived at sea and returned to spawn at rates comparable with naturally produced salmon.
The River Carron Conservation Association began stocking native salmon in 1995 after the population suffered a sharp decline. Previous research from the programme concluded that using wild broodstock each season reduced the genetic risks associated with hatchery fish.
Bob Kindness, who leads the programme, said the latest results suggested conservation stocking could provide a temporary tool for rivers where salmon populations are approaching local extinction, alongside habitat restoration and other recovery measures.
