My colleague Richard Scrope and I were invited to attend the London launch of the reinvigorated Atlantic Salmon Trust with its new and enthusiastic team. The object of the reception was to brief the huge turnout on the new team and their objectives. The evening was opened by new Chairman Robbie Douglas-Miller, the lead scientist Ken Wheelan then gave an intriduction to the preview of the film Lost at Sea, a documentary which seeks to work out what happens to British salmon at sea. Executive Director Sarah Bayley Slater followed up with a briefing on the three key objectives of the Trust at this time and what funds are needed to be raised. Finally Fund raising Chairman Peter Landale briefed us on all the ways we can support AST commencing with being a friend of the AST for just £20 a year.
The three main areas of focus are:
Acoustic Telemetry Tracking – do our smolts die in large quantities in the lower river and coastal zones and if so, why? Amount required £280,000 for three years work.
Environmental DNA – understanding pelagic by-catch. Amount required £125,000 for three years work.
Salmon Aquaculture – how can the wild and the farmed exist in harmony? Amount required £125,000 for three years work.
The AST requires a further £250,000 a year for Head Office. It seeks to raise an additional £3,000,000 as an endowment fund.
There will be a 50th Anniversary Gala dinner on 25th May as a major fundraising effort.
Frontiers will be supporting the AST and we believe all UK salmon fishermen should too. However small the support, it will be greatly appreciated. Please contact director@atlanticsalmontrust.org to support or take a table at the dinner on 25th May.
Tarquin Millington-Drake
Thanks to Frontiers Travel International for the article.