RECORDS OF POST-SMOLT ATLANTIC SALMON, SALMO-SALAR L, IN THE FAROE-SHETLAND CHANNEL IN JUNE 1996

Atlantic salmon spawn and undergo their early development in fresh wat er but typically make most of their growth in the sea. In the British Isles the freshwater phase may last from 1 year to, exceptionally, 5 y ears. The young salmon enter the sea in the spring. Because their numb ers are restricted by the extent of suitable rearing habitat in fresh water, salmon are relatively uncommon fishes in the sea and records of their occurrence, other than at sites of directed fisheries have, unt il recently, been infrequent. Here we report on the capture of 167 pos t-smelt salmon caught in five trawl hauls during June 1996 in the surf ace waters of the Faroe-Shetland Channel. A combination of age structu re (based on scale readings) and tag-return data suggests a relatively southern origin for most of the fish. The large numbers of fish caugh t in two hauls and the results of analysing the tag returns suggest th at post-smelt salmon form schools in the open sea. All tagged fish wer e of hatchery origin, suggesting that hatchery-reared fish have ocean migrations similar to wild fish, at least for part of their life at se a. Hydrographic observations obtained before and during the trawls sug gest that the fish were concentrated within a persistent, narrow north ward flowing slope current located along the northwest European contin ental shelf edge. Crown Copyright (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Scien ce B.V.