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.