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Telephone No. 0207 238 5734
E-mail:
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SID 5
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Research Project Final Report
Note
In line with the Freedom of Information
Act 2000, Defra aims to place the results
of its completed research projects in the
public domain wherever possible. The
SID 5 (Research Project Final Report) is
designed to capture the information on
the results and outputs of Defra-funded
research in a format that is easily
publishable through the Defra website. A
SID 5 must be completed for all projects.
1.
Defra Project code
2.
Project title
This form is in Word format and the
boxes may be expanded or reduced, as
appropriate.
3.
ACCESS TO INFORMATION
The information collected on this form will
be stored electronically and may be sent
to any part of Defra, or to individual
researchers or organisations outside
Defra for the purposes of reviewing the
project. Defra may also disclose the
information to any outside organisation
acting as an agent authorised by Defra to
process final research reports on its
behalf. Defra intends to publish this form
on its website, unless there are strong
reasons not to, which fully comply with
exemptions under the Environmental
Information Regulations or the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
Defra may be required to release
information, including personal data and
commercial information, on request under
the Environmental Information
Regulations or the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. However, Defra will
not permit any unwarranted breach of
confidentiality or act in contravention of
its obligations under the Data Protection
Act 1998. Defra or its appointed agents
may use the name, address or other
details on your form to contact you in
connection with occasional customer
research aimed at improving the
processes through which Defra works
with its contractors.
SID 5 (Rev. 05/09)
Project identification
SF0250
The Marine Life of Atlantic Salmon: Evidence from the
Microchemistry of Scales
Contractor
organisation(s)
University of Southampton
54. Total Defra project costs
(agreed fixed price)
5. Project:
Page 1 of 5
£
66,309
start date ................
01 April 2007
end date .................
31 March 2010
6. It is Defra’s intention to publish this form.
Please confirm your agreement to do so. ................................................................................... YES
NO
(a) When preparing SID 5s contractors should bear in mind that Defra intends that they be made public. They
should be written in a clear and concise manner and represent a full account of the research project
which someone not closely associated with the project can follow.
Defra recognises that in a small minority of cases there may be information, such as intellectual property
or commercially confidential data, used in or generated by the research project, which should not be
disclosed. In these cases, such information should be detailed in a separate annex (not to be published)
so that the SID 5 can be placed in the public domain. Where it is impossible to complete the Final Report
without including references to any sensitive or confidential data, the information should be included and
section (b) completed. NB: only in exceptional circumstances will Defra expect contractors to give a "No"
answer.
In all cases, reasons for withholding information must be fully in line with exemptions under the
Environmental Information Regulations or the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
(b) If you have answered NO, please explain why the Final report should not be released into public domain
Executive Summary
7.
The executive summary must not exceed 2 sides in total of A4 and should be understandable to the
intelligent non-scientist. It should cover the main objectives, methods and findings of the research, together
with any other significant events and options for new work.
The wild Atlantic salmon has been in heavy decline throughout its native range over the past four
decades, largely due to increases in marine mortality. This research aimed to investigate potential causes
of this decline using stable isotope analysis of archived scale samples, taken from returning adult salmon
over the past few decades. Stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in marine animals, which are naturally
incorporated into the tissue from diet, give information on oceanic conditions of climate and productivity
experienced by the animal, along with data on the trophic level of that animal.
Initially, the aim was to identify, and catalogue if possible, salmon scale archives in England and Wales.
To date 35 scale holding authorities from England, Wales and Northern Ireland were contacted with
responses received from 27. Details of existing archive collections have been compiled into a database.
Relatively few authorities maintain curated archives extending for more than 10 years, and we have
identified the North Sea drift net (Cefas) and River Frome (EA/CEH) as the best candidate archives, giving
good spatial contrast and temporal coverage. Samples from the North Sea and Frome archive are in
house and analyses of these archives is complete.
Secondly, the aim was to develop sampling and analytical protocols for the scales and the mass
spectrometry analysis. We optimised mass spectrometer parameters to utilise a scale mass of between
0.5mg and 0.6mg. This mass is significantly lower than sample masses used in most other stable isotope
laboratories, allowing us to recover a reliable and precise isotope value from collagen laid down during the
last season at sea cut from a single scale. Following optimisation of laboratory protocols, we measured the
variation in isotopic composition between scales within single fish. This allowed us to determine how many
scales were needed to reliably reflect the isotopic composition of a fish. We analysed multiple scales from
7 fish reared in a common tank and showed that variation between fish is significantly larger than variation
within fish for both carbon and nitrogen isotopes. We are confident that a single scale provides a valid
estimate of the isotopic composition of a fish within analytical error. Once this was completed, carbon and
nitrogen isotopic composition was measured in the marine portion of grilse (one-sea winter) and multi-sea
winter (MSW) salmon scale samples taken from the River Frome over 23 years (247 salmon analysed)
and the Northeast Coast over 14 years (244 salmon analysed) to complete the third project aim. Analyses
were performed on the last marine growth season, giving a retrospective record of marine conditions
experienced by each fish.
A record of the changes in isotopic composition of salmon returning to the Frome and North East Coast
was produced, with a separate record for fish returning after 1 and 2 winters at sea. We used these
records to compare the marine behaviour of cohorts within a population, and between the two populations.
SID 5 (Rev. 05/09)
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We found that both region of origin and sea age influence the carbon isotope signal. This means that fish
returning to the two regions of the UK must feed in different locations. Furthermore, fish of different sea
age also feed in different areas. This contrasts with one model of salmon migration that suggests all fish of
southern European origin (<60’N) share a common migration and feeding ground.
We developed a new method to predict feeding location from isotope records. Because plankton carbon
isotopes are influenced by sea surface temperature, we compared the temporal record of isotopes
measured in salmon scales with temporal records of sea surface temperature measured by satellite
across the North Atlantic. Fish are likely to have fed in areas where these records coincide. We mapped
the strength of the correlation between the two records to suggest likely feeding grounds for each cohort
within each population, with the River Frome grilse and MSW salmon respectively feeding near the shelf
breaks of the Porcupine Bank and south Iceland. The Northeast Coast grilse and MSW salmon were, in
contrast, feeding near the shelf breaks of the southern Norwegian Sea and the Bear Island Trench in the
northern Norwegian Sea, respectively. These areas experience very different environmental and climatic
conditions, which are likely to influence marine mortality. This is reflected in the relationship between
return rates and carbon isotopes, where carbon isotopes correlate with return numbers for the North East
Coast stock, but not the Frome stock. There is some suggestion that trophic level or marine nitrate
concentrations influence returning numbers of the Frome stock, but this needs further investigation.
The identification of putative feeding grounds for the River Frome and Northeast Coast populations means
that these areas may be monitored remotely to determine oceanic conditions during periods of summer
growth, and thereby predict, based on the mechanisms controlling each individual population, the likely
strength of the returning stock on an annual basis. These maps, together with correlations between
isotope data and returning numbers of fish, provide a model for predicting the impact of changes in the
marine environment on return rates of salmon at a scale relevant to each individual population, and thus
achieve the fifth aim of this project.
On consultation with Defra and Cefas, it was decided to remove the following objective from the project:
4. Measure trace element compositions from salmon scales in relation to variations in the marine
environment.
This objective was removed as trace element compositions in salmon scales were found to be heavily
over-printed by the trace element signatures of recent waters, thus the scales could not provide a clear,
temporally resolved signal of the waters in which they were grown.
The use of the isotopes as indicators of marine conditions, and the mapping approach used to identify
feeding grounds within this project are both applicable to many other marine species for which tissue
archives may exist. These techniques thus complete objective 6 (after removal of the trace elements part
of the objective for the reason discussed above), which was to assess the suitability of stable isotope
analysis to understand the distribution of other keystone fish species. Future work is likely to concentrate
on mapping the distributions of other fish species than salmon, including herring, and on using the isotope
signatures of marine plankton caught under known conditions to create predictive area maps for different
combinations of carbon and nitrogen isotope values found in North Atlantic fish species.
Project Report to Defra
8.
As a guide this report should be no longer than 20 sides of A4. This report is to provide Defra with
details of the outputs of the research project for internal purposes; to meet the terms of the contract; and
to allow Defra to publish details of the outputs to meet Environmental Information Regulation or
Freedom of Information obligations. This short report to Defra does not preclude contractors from also
seeking to publish a full, formal scientific report/paper in an appropriate scientific or other
journal/publication. Indeed, Defra actively encourages such publications as part of the contract terms.
The report to Defra should include:
 the scientific objectives as set out in the contract;
 the extent to which the objectives set out in the contract have been met;
 details of methods used and the results obtained, including statistical analysis (if appropriate);
 a discussion of the results and their reliability;
 the main implications of the findings;
 possible future work; and
 any action resulting from the research (e.g. IP, Knowledge Transfer).
SID 5 (Rev. 05/09)
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References to published material
9.
This section should be used to record links (hypertext links where possible) or references to other
published material generated by, or relating to this project.
SID 5 (Rev. 05/09)
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SID 5 (Rev. 05/09)
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