The EU funds research projects in Regional Fishery Management Organizations through the EU ‘Grants for an action’ programme. NASCO, through the International Atlantic Salmon Research Fund, is the beneficiary and the NASCO Secretariat administers, and is financial co-ordinator for, the projects. Projects funded under this mechanism are listed below.

SMOLTrack Projects 

In this set of projects, salmon scientists have tagged and tracked salmon smolts and kelts with both acoustic, radio and PIT tags. To date, nine countries are participating and the project covers the entire distribution area within the EU (from Portugal in the South to Finland in the North). SMOLTrack I, SMOLTrack II, SMOLTrack III and SMOLTrack IV are complete. SMOLTrack V commenced in June 2023, and will end in April 2025.

The SMOLTrack website provides further information.

SMOLTrack V: Studies of behaviour and survival of salmon during their migration – development of tagging programmes to follow the marine migration of salmon to oceanic feeding areas and back (June 2023 – April 2025).
SMOLTrack IV: Quantifying salmon survival from river exit to return as adult: Collecting thermal and behavioural data to refine smolt to adult survival indices (January 2021 – December 2023).
SMOLTrack III: Quantifying smolt survival from source to sea: informing management strategies to optimise returns (January 2020 – December 2022).
SMOLTrack II: Comparing mortality of European salmon populations at sea using multiple-method telemetry studies (January 2017 – September 2019).
SMOLTrack I: Understanding and comparing early mortality of European salmon populations at sea January (2017 – December 2018).

More information on the SMOLTrack Projects can be found at https://www.smoltrack.eu/

LiceTrack

Sea lice model for the sustainable development of Atlantic salmon fisheries and aquaculture. January 2017 – September 2019.

PinkTrack

Co-ordinated environmental DNA (eDNA) surveillance programme for pink salmon in the European Union. November 2023 – October 2026.