Salmon at sea: Scientific advances and their implications for management: An introduction

Abstract

Concerns about increased mortality of salmon at sea resulted in the development and implementation of a major internationally coordinated, public- and privately funded programme of research, the SALSEA programme. Major research surveys were conducted in the Northeast and Northwest Atlantic in 2008 and 2009, and there was enhanced sampling of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) fishery at West Greenland. The findings from these surveys and sampling programmes, and from important new analyses of historical data, stable isotope and genetic stock assignment studies, recent tagging experiments, and other research, were reviewed at an international symposium organized by North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization and ICES and held in La Rochelle, France, 11-13 October 2011. This well-attended symposium, entitled "Salmon at Sea: Scientific Advances and their Implications for Management", highlighted advances in our understanding of the migration, distribution, and survival of salmon at sea, possible causes of the recent increased mortality, future research priorities, and the management actions that might be undertaken to mitigate the increased mortality of salmon at sea. © 2012 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.