The application of science to the management of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): integration across scales

The need for integration across spatial and temporal scales in applying sci ence to the management of Atlantic salmon is considered. The factors that a re currently believed to affect the production of anadromous adult Atlantic salmon (synthesized from recent reviews) are arranged in a hierarchy in wh ich any given process overrides those processes at lower levels. There is n ot a good correlation between levels in the process hierarchy and levels in hierarchies of scale. This demonstrates the importance of integrating acro ss scales in identifying the optimum foci for targeting management action. It is not possible to generalize on the need for integration across scales within management plans. This is because of the complex ecology of salmon, the broad range of characteristics of the systems of which they are a part, and the fact that both local scale and broad scale management can have bro ad scale effects. Many uncertainties remain regarding the large-scale compo nents of the ecology of salmon, the way that small-scale mechanisms interac t with life histories, and the way that different factors interact to limit production of fish. When more is understood of these processes, it is like ly that generalized rules might be developed to predict the management requ irements for stream systems. In the meantime, it is essential that there is good integration among managers working at different scales and it is impo rtant that management systems operating at all spatial scales include high- calibre expertise to compensate for the present paucity of general rules.