North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization

Hej! Our Pink Salmon Working Group met in Lysekil, Sweden. Huge thanks to #SwedishUniversityOfAgriculturalSciences & @tabstaveley for hosting us. We welcomed input from @hbardarson for Iceland, the Group's newest member, & had interesting input from NGOs & Indigenous People's representatives & institutions. Read the Group's Terms of Reference: bit.ly/47xmkKa #Salmon #Sweden #collaboration #NASCO

Pink salmon, now abundant in rivers across northwest Russia and northern Norway, pose a significant threat to wild Atlantic salmon stocks in rivers. As an invasive species, pink salmon are a particularly aggressive competitor for resources in rivers naturally inhabited by Atlantic salmon. Later this week, NASCO's Secretary and Assistant Secretary will join the meeting of the Pink Salmon Working Group in Lysekil, Sweden. The group will discuss the status of work on pink salmon by NASCO's Parties / jurisdictions. We look forward to seeing those of you joining! Stay tuned for updates... #Conservation #Salmon

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Reminder! If you have not yet returned your registration to the Forty-Third Annual Meeting of NASCO and are intending to participate, please remember to do so by the deadline, Monday 23 March. Watch this space, we will be issuing more reminders, updates, and useful information ahead of the Meeting in June. We hope you can join us in this picturesque setting on the banks of the River Spey as we bring together governments, NGOs, scientists, and Indigenous Peoples to develop collaborative solutions for the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon. By fostering partnerships and sharing knowledge, we aim to ensure a thriving future for this iconic species and the communities that depend on it. Meeting papers can be viewed on our website: nasco.int/annual-meeting… #WildAtlanticSalmon #NASCO26 #Collaboration #Conservation

We were pleased to host a three-day meeting of the Working Group on Gyrodactylus salaris (G. salaris) here at NASCO's headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland, this week. The spread of the invasive species G. Salaris poses a major threat to Atlantic salmon in rivers where it has been introduced. The parasite is known to decimate salmon stocks, significantly reducing parr abundance in some rivers. This raises many concerns, including the financial risks posed by such a threat to Atlantic salmon as an economic driver for populations around the North Atlantic. Information provided by Norway in 2007 indicated that the annual socio-economic loss caused by the parasite was estimated to be NOK200 - 250 million (approximately £20million). The Working Group have been hard at work reviewing progress on implementing NASCO's 'Road Map to Enhance Information Exchange and Co-operation on Monitoring, Research and Measures to Prevent the Spread of G. salaris and Eradicate it if Introduced' : nasco.int/wp-content/upl…, and discussing contingency plannning for any spread of the parasite into wild Atlantic salmon rivers in the North-East Atlantic Commission area Stay tuned! A report of the meeting will be published on our website: nasco.int/annual-meeting…. #Atlantic #Conservation

For over 12,000 years, wild Atlantic salmon has been part of human culture, food, and traditions across the North Atlantic. We would like to say qujanaq to the members of the West Greenland Commission for a productive inter-sessional meeting in Nuuk, Greenland to develop a new Regulatory Measure 🐟 Find out more: bit.ly/4rfIGXo #WildAtlanticSalmon #Conservation #NASCO

We've landed! Dr Cathal Gallagher, Secretary, and Dr Clare Cavers, Assistant Secretary, have arrived in Nuuk, Greenland, ahead of NASCO's two-day Inter-Sessional Meeting of the West Greenland Commission. We look forward to connecting with those attending both in person and virtually for a productive meeting. Bringing together governments, NGOs, scientists, and Indigenous Peoples, NASCO drives collaborative solutions for salmon. Meeting papers can be found here: #west-greenland-commission-inter-sessional" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">nasco.int/annual-meeting… #WildAtlanticSalmon #Conservation #Collaboration

*Reminder to the Working Group on Gyrodactylus salaris (G. salaris) that the deadline to submit your progress reports is this Friday, 27 February!* G. salaris is a parasite that can devastate Atlantic salmon stocks in rivers where it has been introduced. Mortality of salmon parr in some infected Norwegian rivers has been as high as 98%. In light of the threat posed by this parasite, NASCO has adopted a 'Road Map to Enhance Information Exchange and Co-operation on Monitoring, Research and Measures to Prevent the Spread of G. salaris and Eradicate it if Introduced' : nasco.int/wp-content/upl…) The Working Group will meet at NASCO's headquarters in Edinburgh from Tuesday 10th - Thursday 12th March to review progress in implementing the Road Map and propose updates to ensure action-oriented content in the Road Map. #WildAtlanticSalmon #HealthyEcosystems #Conservation #NASCO #Collaboration

"Fàilte!" (welcome!) to the Conservation Commitments Reports (CCR) Review Group, who are meeting at NASCO's Headquarters in Edinburgh this week. The Review Group will be kicking off NASCO's fourth reporting cycle by reviewing the Draft CCRs submitted by Parties / jurisdictions. We look forward to working with the Group on this important process and hearing what actions are being taken to address the many challenges faced by wild Atlantic salmon, such as habitat loss, pollution and disease. For more information about about the Reports, and NASCO's reporting cycles, click the link below: nasco.int/conservation/c… #WildAtlanticSalmon #Conservation #HealthyEcosystems #NASCO

Tomorrow will be International Mother Language Day! This is the fourth year of the UN Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-32). #FactOfTheDay : salmon are called 'plamu' in the Mi'kmaq language. NASCO recognises the important role Indigenous peoples play in the conservation of wild Atlantic salmon. At its 40th Annual Meeting in June 2023, NASCO held a Special Session on Indigenous Perspectives on Atlantic salmon in which delegates were invited to hear from nine Indigenous guest speakers and panellists from North America and Europe. Then, at its 41st Annual Meeting in June 2024, NASCO agreed and adopted new ‘Terms and Conditions for Observers at NASCO Meetings’, CNL(24)59. These newly allow Indigenous Peoples’ representatives and institutions (IPRIs) to attend Council meetings as observers, enabling greater international cooperation and encouraging the incorporation of traditional and local knowledge and indigenous perspectives in activities related to salmon science, conservation and management The report from the Special Session in 2023 is available to read on our website: nasco.int/wp-content/upl…. #Conservation #IndigenousLanguages #WildAtlanticSalmon

To start off NASCO's fourth reporting cycle, NASCO's Conservation Commitments Report (CCR) Review Group will hold a planning meeting today, ahead of meeting in-person at NASCO's headquarters in Edinburgh next week. Thank you to all of the Parties / jurisdictions who have submitted their Draft CCRs for review so far and to the members of the Review Group for their time and commitment. Find out more about the Reports and NASCO's reporting cycles here: nasco.int/conservation/c… #Salmon #Conservation

For a great summary of the history of pink salmon, a species non-native to the North Atlantic, and its increasing threat to wild Atlantic salmon, see this new publication from @JaakkoErkinaro👇- a member of NASCO's Working Group on Pink Salmon and participant in the EU-funded PINKTrack projects coordinated by NASCO. To find out more visit NASCO's website (link in bio) and search 'pink salmon' 🐟🌊🏞️ #WildAtlanticSalmon #Conservation #NASCO

Happy #Darwin Day! #DidYouKnow that Charles Darwin, the English naturalist exalted for his work in the field of evolutionary biology, was born on this day, 12 February, in 1809? Darwin made mention of salmon many times throughout his career, citing their observed characteristics and behaviours as evidence to support his ideas. Today, NASCO join the global scientific community in acknowledging the enormous and lasting impact of this pioneer's works, while we continue our own work to conserve, in the wild, one of the many species whose origins Darwin once pondered. To learn about how NASCO is working to slow the decline of wild Atlantic salmon populations, check out our website: nasco.int. #Salmon #Conservation

The #WorldWetlandsDay2026 theme is 'Wetlands and traditional knowledge: Celebrating cultural heritage'. Find out more about Atlantic salmon, its habitats and its cultural importance in NASCO's 'State of North Atlantic Salmon' report 👉bit.ly/46pOohG #Conservation

Watch this space! The Secretariat have been hard at work preparing to host delegates at the Forty-Third Annual Meeting of the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization this June. The Forty-Third Annual Meeting will be held in Aviemore, on the River Spey, one of Scotland's main salmon rivers. For information on Spey and other rivers associated with wild Atlantic salmon in the North Atlantic, check out the Wild Atlantic Salmon Atlas here: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4d2409… Follow us here to keep up with the latest as we post updates over the coming months! #Atlantic #Salmon #NASCO26

Did you know?... The evening of Sunday 25 January will be celebrated across Scotland as Burns Night; an annual holiday dedicated to the great eighteenth-century Scottish poet Robert ('Rabbie') Burns. Traditionally, haggis is eaten during a Burns Supper, and is of course washed down with a dram of whisky. Often taking inspiration for his works from the abundant natural beauty of his surroundings, Burns spent his final years in and near Dumfries, where the River Nith, a salmon river, would have been a frequent sight for him. In a letter to a prospective landlord in 1787, Burns remarked that "the banks of the Nith are as sweet poetic ground as any I ever saw". For information on Nith and other rivers associated with wild Atlantic salmon in the North Atlantic, check out the Wild Atlantic Salmon Atlas here: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4d2409… Happy Burns Night from all of us in the NASCO Secretariat in Edinburgh! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 #BurnsNight

#BBNJ Treaty is now in force — a historic step to protect marine biodiversity in the high seas. As the @UN body for ocean science, the @IocUnesco enables implementation by sharing data, building capacity and driving innovation. Learn More: unes.co/pj24t1 #OceanScience

🧑🏽‍🔬🌊🤖 Hey undergrads! Get paid, hands-on experience in ocean science or engineering as a @whoi_academic Summer Student Fellow! Applications are due on February 1—so start yours today! 📲Find program details and potential projects for summer 2026: whoi.edu/summerfellow