This is a past event
Join us for today's speaker Dr Victoria Pritchard
Today Dr Victoria Pritchard, Senior Researcher at UHI Inverness, joins us as our seminar speaker. Her talk will be about 'Using Genetics to Guide the Conservation of Wild Atlantic Salmon'.
Abstract
The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is an ecologically, economically and culturally important anadromous fish species. In Scotland, for example, salmon transport nutrients from the marine environment into the species-poor upland rivers where they breed; were historically an important trade commodity; and continue to attract tourists to experience the tradition of Scottish fly fishing. Atlantic salmon exhibit substantial life-history diversity within and between rivers, including variation in the age at which they migrate to and from the ocean, and – especially in Scotland - the time of the year at which they make those migrations.
Atlantic salmon are continuing to decline throughout their range in Europe and North America, and the species is now IUCN classified as “Endangered” in Britain. The reasons for this decline remain poorly understood, however it appears to be largely driven by reduced survival during the marine migration. Concurrently, salmon populations have exhibited changes in age and timing of their return from the ocean. Salmon managers in Scotland have responded to ongoing declines and historical losses by instituting so-called “conservation stocking” programmes, however these can pose their own risk to wild salmon stocks.
Rich genomic resources are available for Atlantic salmon, allowing us to apply genetic tools to understand how salmon populations are adapted to their local environment, including via their life-history diversity, and to practically monitor the impact of changing conditions and the outcome of stocking programmes. I will show how such genetic tools are being used to guide management of wild salmon populations in Scotland and elsewhere.
- Speaker
- Dr Victoria Pritchard
- Hosted by
- Lauren Chapman, PhD student
- Venue
- Zoology Building - ZLT
- Contact
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