6.7 Knowledge transfer and sustainable management for the
future
Concerns about climate change and the risks to salmon populations, as
well as other important issues, such as flood hazards, droughts and
warming streams, are resulting in rapidly changing approaches to
managing salmon streams that are increasingly catchment focussed and
aimed at restoring natural processes and sustainability (e.g. FNLRT,
2021). Extensive riparian planting (to ameliorate stream temperatures),
reintroduction of beavers, installation of large woody structures (to
increase morphological diversity) and restoration of forests and
peatlands are all being actively promoted as ameliorative measures in
Scotland at present. In the right context, there may be much to be
gained from such initiatives. But it is important that the goals of
management are cognisant of the complex biotic and abiotic processes
that sustain wild salmon populations, and in this regard are realistic
about where changes can positively affect salmon production.
Furthermore, management actions must certainly seek to avoid doing
further harm and also avoid the allocation of constrained resources to
actions that have a low likelihood of successful outcomes. In this
context, the continued development of process-based understanding of
salmon populations at low stock levels becomes increasingly important,
as does understanding of the efficacy (or otherwise) of management
actions.