Renovating salmon management in Brittany: the RENOSAUM project

Abstract

To revise the management of salmon populations in Brittany, and more specifically the regulation of their exploitation by river angling, the OFB, INRAE and the Université de Pau et Pays de l'Adour, in collaboration with Bretagne Grands Migrateurs, have worked together within the framework a vast decision-support exercise (RENOSAUM project, 2017-2022). This work is unprecedented in terms of the amount of data utilized, its consideration of international recommendations and the continual dialogue between scientists and management stakeholders that has governed its progress. It now provides, for the 18 main salmon rivers in Brittany and over a span of three decades (1987-2020), novel insights into the abundance of juveniles and adults, the mechanisms of generational renewal within the studied populations, as well as their exploitation patterns through angling. This information served as the basis for establishing new conservation limits for each of the populations studied, and for a comparative analysis of a very broad set of fishing regulation scenarios, which ultimately led to the introduction of renewed angling regulation measures applicable from 2023.