Global Change Colloquium: 100 years of salmon management in Denmark. Insights from population genomics. Prof. Einar Eg Nielsen (Technical University of Denmark; Silkeborg)

Abstract:

Atlantic salmon populations in Denmark severely declined in the beginning of the last century due anthropogenic pressures. Accordingly, around 1990, the number of salmon populations were reduced to a single alleged natural population in the Skjern River in western Jutland with below 50 adult individuals. In response, several large projects to restore rivers and remove dams were issued and a supportive breeding program for the last remaining wild salmon was initiated. DNA testing confirmed the native origin and quality of the salmon in western Jutland and provided further momentum for the collaborative effort by anglers, authorities and researchers to restore salmon populations. This has resulted in a large resurge of Atlantic salmon in Denmark, with thriving populations in most of the original salmon rivers. We here describe the success story of Danish salmon from the beginning and to present day. We reflect on the crucial adaptive conservation strategy, present the current management paradigm and point to realised and potential future prospects for increasing stock sizes and outline major threats. We do this in a conservation genetic context, as genetics/genomics has been a crucial part of the project since the beginning. We present genomic information derived by DNA analysis of historical scale collections, about the population distinctness, integrity and genetic health across different management regimes spanning over more than a century.

Location: Conference Romm CI, RPTU in Landau

Start: 18:00