SAMARCH (SAlmonid MAnagement Round the CHannel)

SAMARCH Goes Career Spotlight at BU

Katie Thompson

By Ossi Turunen, Bournemouth University

I attended a Career Spotlight event at Bournemouth University on Monday 15th October to present my own experiences with the SAMARCH project and to meet new inspiring people. The event started with a keynote speaker Brian Heppenstal from Hengistsbury Head followed by a panel discussion by Bournemouth University graduates and academics, including Professor Genoveva Esteban who also covered some of the SAMARCH project during the discussion.

Explaining the basics of the SAMARCH project

The event ended in a networking session where current students were able to ask more questions from the speakers and find new career opportunities. I had made a poster about my SAMARCH placement which I presented in the networking session. With Professor Esteban and Jack Dazley we had the chance to discuss with people about SAMARCH and promote the placement opportunities.

A poster about my SAMARCH placement

Source: SAMARCH Blogs

PhD opportunity: Predicting the Implications of Changes in Migration Phenology for the Conservation of Atlantic Salmon

Katie Thompson

Bournemouth University (www.bournemouth.ac.uk) and The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (www.gwct.org.uk) are recruiting a high calibre PhD researcher to work on a three year fully funded studentship investigating changes in the migrations of Atlantic salmon in relation to factors including climate change, with an emphasis on how changes in smolt migrations are impacting survival to spawning adults.

The study will develop flexible multistate state-space mark-recapture models to quantify and then investigate correlates of Atlantic salmon marine survival using data collected on the river Frome, Dorset UK, with the intention of generalising findings to other rivers in Europe.

The successful candidate will have a strong numerical background and some knowledge of salmonids.

Although the student will be registered at Bournemouth University, they will spend up to 2/3 of their time at the FBA River Laboratory in rural Dorset: https://www.fba.org.uk/the-river-laboratory

Deadline: 11th March 2018

Entry requirements: A 1st class honours degree and/or a relevant Master’s degree with distinction or equivalent

Apply: https://www1.bournemouth.ac.uk/study/courses/phd-studentship-predicting-implications-changes-migration-phenology-conservation-atlantic-salmon

(This PhD opportunity is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Channel VA Programme and is part of project SAMARCH (www.samarch.org))

SAMARCH (SAlmoid MAnagement Round the CHannel) team brave the cold to find and tag sea trout

Katie Thompson
On Tuesday 6th February, Bournemouth University Research Associate Katie Thompson from the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences (SciTech) joined the SAMARCH (Salmonid Management round the Channel) team in search of sea trout in the river Frome. The five year EU Interreg Channel Programme funded project (2017-2022) will track juvenile salmon and juvenile and adult sea trout through four English and French estuaries to fill the gaps in our knowledge of how quickly fish migrate through intertidal habitat, their migration pathways and where adult sea trout spend time at sea. Currently, 95% of our salmon and sea trout die at sea, compared to only 75% in the 1970s. The project aims to answer the question of what proportion of this mortality occurs in estuaries and coastal waters compared to the open sea by using small acoustic and data storage tags. The project includes 10 partners from France and England who are a blend of research and regulatory organisations, and key stakeholders (Bournemouth University, Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, University of Exeter, INRA Science & Impact, Environment Agency, Salmon and Trout Conservation, Agro Campus, Agence française pour la biodiversité, Normandie grands migrateurs, Obersvatoire des poissons migrateurs Bretagne).
If you would like to know more about the project then you can follow online via:http://samarch.org; http://www.wessexportal.co.uk/category/samarch-salmonid-management-round-the-channel or contact Katie Thompson on thompsonk@bournemouth.ac.uk or Genoveva Esteban gesteban@bournemouth.ac.uk.
SAMARCH (SAlmonid MAnagement Round the CHannel

SAMARCH (SAlmonid MAnagement Round the CHannel

Katie Thompson

The SAMARCH project will :

  • Provide novel information on the survival and migration of young salmon and sea trout in four estuaries of the Channel area
  • Provide novel information on the movements and swimming depths of adult sea trout in the Channel
  • Create a genetic data base for trout on both sides of the Channel
  • Create a map of areas that are important for sea trout in the Channel based on sea scape
  • Provide new information to further improve the models used in England and France to manage their salmonid stocks
  • Train students in the management of coastal and transitional waters
  • Engage with stakeholders throughout the project
  • Inform current and develop new policies for the better management of salmonid stocks in our coastal and transitional waters

Although the project involves working on a number of rivers in the Channel area, the majority of the data collection and research will focus on the five salmon and sea trout “Index” rivers in the Channel area. These are the rivers Frome and Tamar in the south of England and the Scorff, Oir and Bresle in northern France.

The project includes 10 partners from France and England who are a blend of research and regulatory organisations, and key stakeholders:

  • Bournemouth University
  • University of Exeter
  • INRA Science & Impact
  • Environment Agency
  • Salmon and Trout Conservation
  • Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust
  • Agro Campus
  • Agence française pour la biodiversité
  • Normandie grands migrateurs
  • Obersvatoire des poissons migrateurs bretagne
  • Supported by the Atlantic Salmon Trust

Find out more on the website here: SAMARCH