The Atlantic Salmon in France
Overview
Bénédicte Valadou
(with contributions from A. Richard, M.A. Arago, M. Chanseau, V. Vauclin and V.
Burgun)
31st annual meeting of NASCO
Hôtel le Nouveau Monde St-Malo
le 3 juin 2014
Governance of diadromous species
SEINE NORMANDIE
BRETAGNE
RHIN
LOIRE
Garonne –
Dordogne
ADOUR
RHÔNE –
MED :
No salmon
Governance of diadromous species
Management plans of diadromous species : monitoring,
fisheries, protection and restauration of fishes habitat,
restocking
Prepared by local bodies, includind states representants,
local authorities, fishermen, NGO, scientists…
Link with the Water Framework Directive
overview
date
4
Brittany
25 salmon rivers :
22 with a river bassin <
1000 m²
9500 adults come back per
year
3 323 500 m² of productive
area (parr habitats).
date
5
natural reproduction and
stocking success carried out by
using electrofishing (20012005).
natural reproduction and stocking success carried out by
using electrofishing (2006-2011).
AULNE : critical
situation
sources : BGM
Normandie
PRINCIPALES RIVIERES NORMANDES
RE
S
S
E
AN
DE
LL
E
limestone basin
DOU
VE
LE
S
E
RE
EU
SE
UL
IN
LE
R
O
NE
EN
SI
E
N
DI
VE
S
ITO
RE
NN
E
SEE
E
VA
SELUNE
SE
RIS
RE
VI
S
TOUQUE
EP
TE
AURE
TE
U
TA
AVR
MAYENNE
THE
SAR
HUIS
NE
ancient basement waterproof
salmon rivers
date
SCI
SAANE
ONT
T
VALM
DEN
(1 - 10% salmons)
SAIRE
AR
QU
E
DUR
Sea Trout rivers
BR
ES
LE
YE
50 km
N
- small rivers
(from 35 to 100
km)
Geological
East/West
differences :
temperature
and size of
riffles explain
this distinction.
7
PRINCIPALES RIVIERES NORMANDES
rivers of Mont St Michel Bay form
a satisfactory ring (Sienne, Sée)
and metapopulation exchange
with Sélune closed by two dams.
the Vire population remains low
(200 to 450 adults), despite a
rostored migratory route.
reproduction on Andelle
2 limestone rivers, Arques and Bresle
remain weak with a few hundred adults
2 populations relocated from 15 years
on the Saire and Orne (restoking in
1995), with a few hundred adults in
2013.
date
8
Loire
Cher
Arroux: 2 ± 3 (20062013)
Arroux
Maisons Rouges
Erased 1998
Creuse
Gartempe: 13 ± 16
(2001-2013)
Allier: 588 ± 264
(1997-2013)
Gartempe
Loire
1/5 of France (118,000 km2)
R. Loire: 1012 km long
Vienne
R. Allier: first spawning grounds 800 km
from the sea
Lignon
 Once the longest French rivers with (wild)
salmon
Poutès
Fish-pass 1986
 1891-1895: ~ 50,000 salmon caught each
year (net fishermen)….
St Etienne
du Vigan
Erased 1998
Garonne-Dordogne
one estuary - one of the biggest in Europe
Construction and modifications of dams on the lower
parts beginning 20th  salmon disappearance
Habitat : potential run of ~ 5 000 fish
~ 160 dams/weirs (50 hydroelectric powerplants) and
42 fish pass built.
3 first dams on Dordogne : 50% fish upstream / Loss ~
60% on the middle part of Garonne
Population increase from 1993 to 2002 (more than
1500 fish in 2000 - 2002)
decrease since 2003 (1 SW).
55 000km² ;
mean flow : 600 m3/s
200 ha PS
date
24 000 km² ;
mean flow : 300 m3/s
200 ha PS
20 to 40% from natural reproduction on Dordogne ;
very few on Garonne (genetic assignment)
10
Adour
4000 adults come back per
year
~ 200 dams/weirs (86
hydroelectric) and
100 fish pass
 65% of habitats used
(G. Pau : 1/3 fish reach
good habitats)
980 km² ;
mean flow : 31 m3/s
2 710 km² ;
mean flow : 82 m3/s
2 500 km² ;
mean flow : 102 m3/s
no disappearance. Management plan in the
80’s : eggs deposition target – more than 11 M
(1998) ; fish pass ; stocking ; fishing
regulations…
disappearance
during first part of
XXth century (dams)
 fish pass
construction and
stocking since the
80’s
265 ha PA
90 ha PA
Rhine
Rhine river bassin : 9 country
from Alpes to the North sea
•before 1920 : 250 000 salmons
caught per year.
•after 1930 : Big dicrease
•from 1958 : totally dissapeear.
•2020 : salmons will come back in
the rhine river
date
12
Fisheries
date
13
Fishing is forbidden for a lot of rivers

Garonne and Dordogne (because of re-introduction projet)

Loire-Allier (since 1994, for risk of extinction)

Rhine (because of re-introduction project)
fishing is closed but some accidental catches (drift nets) and
by-catches occur (nets, rod and line…) because fishing for
other species is ongoing and gears are not selective
poaching on Mont Saint Michel Bay
date
14
A single professional estuarine fishery
Adour



25 – 30 fishermen (~ 50 ten years ago)
Captures last years : 1000 to 1200 mature salmons
exploitation rate estimate : ~ 35 – 40% - more for MSW
Fishing allowed from March to July
 No fishing during 25% of time per week


date
Current discussions to reduce fishing effort
15
Management Rod Fishing (TAC)
TAC MSW
TAC 1SW
Bretagne
25 Rivers
484
4357
Normandie
8 Rivers
150
675
5 Rivers
Sée and Sélune
date
15
105
476
16
Management Rod Fishing Adour
 Rods : ~ 1 000 anglers
 Captures last years : 200 to 300 fish – 90% of MSW
 Fishing allowed from March to July (and 2 weeks in
september)  Max. 4 fish / person / year
date
17
Habitats restoration
date
18
Accessibility and potential habitat in Brittany
- Kernansquillec dam removal on le Léguer (1996)
- 51 dams have been removed or restored (made passable) since 2007
Accessibility and potential habitat in Normandie
Restoration of migratory continuity
For 30 years, the linear colonized by salmon increased
in Normandy more than 500 km.
On the Seine, salmon reached Paris.
Restoration of natural flows
baie du
Mont Saint
Michel
barrage de la -qui
Roche
-Boit
On migratory rivers of Normandy, the target is to reduce
the staggering rate to a maximum of 30%.
barrageVezins
de
Sélune restoration
2 hydroelectric dam 51 m high cumulative,
which obstructed the river 8 km from the dynamic tide
will be removed to the end of 2018 in order to :
-restore the movement of migratory fish and
- enable the sustainable management of Sélune
date
20
Accessibility and potential habitat in Loire-Allier
Length (km)
N° of Obstacles
N° of Obstacles:
- difficult to pass
- causing delays
R. Gartempe
240 km
119
45
Hence the small N° of adults
R. Loire
600 km
0
0
But lack of [O2] in the estuary
possible some years
420 km
20
5 + 10
Poutès the only big dam (H =
17 m).Will be modified in 2017
(H = 4 m)
R. Sioule
95 km
35
6+7
Serious troubles in the lower
section
R. Alagnon
85 km
28
8 + 10
Serious troubles in the lower
section. 5 weirs very hard to
pass
River
(< confl. with Allier)
R. Allier
Remarks
Allier (+ Sioule, Alagnon, Dore): a remnant population…
Ecolobiologically and genetically unique:
 800 km in-river migration before the first spawning grounds
 2 SW and 3 SW fish (no grilse)
 a genetic ‘signature’ different from all other French salmon populations & unchanged since the
70's (Perrier, 2011)
Accessibility and potential habitat : Adour, Garonne-Dordogne
Main actions concerning accessibility of habitats in the next few years to
increase the part of natural reproduction
 Construction (or improvement) of ~ 40 new fish pass (« special
discussions » for the 3 first dams on Dordogne)
 mortality reduction on downstream migration (actually ~ 20% for
each basin) : ~ 60 bypass systems for salmon (and eel)
date
22
Accessibility and potential habitat in Rhine
The main actions include :
- opening locks
Haringvliet the
Netherlands,
- restoration of spawning
grounds in tributaries
partly German and
- development of
fishways on
hydroelectric French
side
=> a total cost of several
hundred million euros.
Nouvelle en construction MSI 2016
En service
Restocking
date
24
Stocking on Adour-Garonne-Dordogne
For all basins : première origine exogène puis « parents
sauvages » au début des années 90
Adour :
- Oloron + Nive 4.6 M YOY from 1983 to 2010 (stop in 2010)
- Pau
6.0 M YOY from 1983 to 2013
4.8 M YOY from 2004 to 2012
Garonne – Dordogne : ~ 1 M fish par year (more 90% YOY)
since ~ 15 years
Good survival in rivers : ~ 8% from YOY to smolt on Garonne.
But low return rates on Dordogne and Garonne :
0.05 – 0.08% for YOY
0.2 to 1% for smolt.
date
25
Stocking on Loire-Allier
One big hatchery since 2001, dimensioned for smolt
~ 1 million fed fries/year, 80% in the Allier system
200,000 smolts/year + same N° of autumal parrs
Very low (and decreasing) average return rate of stcoked smolts
at Vichy: 0.6 ‰.
All stocking may account for 80% of adult returns in the R. Allier
in the last 10 years (Population Viability Model: Dauphin &
Prévost, 2013)
 Without stocking , the population
would have persisted, at a smaller level (260 adults)

Stocking did not restore a self-sustaining population: Allier salmon
still on a slippery slope
 Stocking is not a solution, but no action is not a valid option either
 Mortalities must be reduced (significantly) to restore a self sustaining
stock: improving migration transparency should help (among other
things)
date
27
(Dauphin & Prévost, 2013)
Thank you for your attention
date
28