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About The Norwegian Scientific Advisory Committee for Atlantic Salmon

The Norwegian Scientific Advisory Committee for Atlantic Salmon (Vitenskapelig råd for lakseforvaltning) is an independent body appointed by the Norwegian Environment Agency. Comprising thirteen scientists from seven institutions, the committee evaluates the status of wild Atlantic salmon in Norway, identifies key threats, and provides science-based management advice.

Each year, the committee publishes comprehensive reports detailing their evaluation. While the full reports are in Norwegian, English summaries of the main reports are available to reach a broader audience.

 

The most recent English report summaries include:

 

Scientific articles in English:

 

The most recent reports in Norwegian:

 

Contact

Torbjørn Forseth, leader
Norwegian institute for nature research (NINA).
Telephone: +47 73 80 14 00, +47 92 64 34 37
e-mail: torbjorn.forseth@nina.no
Mail address: Postboks 5685 Sluppen, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
Visitor address: Høgskoleringen 9, 7034 Trondheim, Norway

Eva B. Thorstad, secretariat
Norwegian institute for nature research (NINA).
Telephone: +47 73 80 14 00, +47 91 66 11 30
e-mail: eva.thorstad@nina.no
Mail address: Postboks 5685 Sluppen, 7485 Trondheim, Norway
Visitor address: Høgskoleringen 9, 7034 Trondheim, Norway

 
News

Status of wild Atlantic salmon in Norway 2024

Publisert: 14. august 2024

The status of Norwegian wild salmon is evaluated annually by the Norwegian Scientific Advisory Committee for Atlantic Salmon. This is an English summary of the 2024 report.

Status of wild Atlantic salmon in Norway 2024
Foto: Helge Skoglund / NORCE

Atlantic salmon stocks in Norway are at a historically low level. The number of salmon returning from the ocean to Norway in 2023 was the second lowest ever. The two lowest returns occurred during the last three years, in 2021 and 2023. The greatest decline in salmon stocks has occurred in western and central Norway, as well as in the large Tana watercourse.

The biggest threats to Norwegian salmon are salmon farming and climate change. Salmon lice from farms, escaped farmed salmon and infections are the biggest threats from salmon farming. The present mitigation measures are insufficient to stabilize and reduce the threats from salmon lice and other infections. The threats to Atlantic salmon are relatively similar to previous years’ assessments. The threats from escaped farmed salmon, pink salmon, the parasite Gyrodactylus salaris and overexploitation were slightly reduced in 2024 compared to 2023 due to mitigation measures.

Hydropower regulation and other physical alterations are also major threats that reduce salmon populations. Further measures could be implemented to reduce the effects of hydropower regulation and other physical alterations. Methods for improving conditions for salmon in regulated rivers are well developed. Pink salmon is an invasive species with an exponential increase in abundance since 2017. This is a difficult threat to assess, because almost no knowledge exists on the effects of invasive pink salmon.

Read full summary of the report (in English).

The 2024 annual report is published in Norwegian.

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Members

Torbjørn Forseth (Senior researcher, Norwegian institute for nature research)

Asbjørn Vøllestad (Professor, Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, University of Oslo)

Knut Wiik Vollset (Researcher, NORCE - Norwegian Research Center AS)

Peder Fiske (Senior researcher, Norwegian institute for nature research)

Morten Falkegård (Researcher, Norwegian institute for nature research)Åse

Monica Solberg (Senior researcher, Institute of marine research)

Helge Skoglund (Researcher, NORCE - Norwegian Research Center AS)

Eva B. Thorstad (Researcher, Norwegian institute for nature research)

Øyvind Kaste (Senior researcher and regional leader, Norwegian institute for water research)

Anders Foldvik (Senior researcher, Norwegian institute for nature research)

Sigurd Einum (Professor, Centre for Biodiversity Dinamics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

Åse Helen Garseth (Veterinarian, Norwewgian Veterinary Institute)

Kjell Rong Utne (Researcher, Institute of marine research)

Geir H. Bolstad (Senior researcher, Norwegian institute for nature research)