The number of salmon returning to Scottish rivers has halved
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A research project which aims to find out more about the dangers faced by young salmon in the North Atlantic has been launched.
The �300,000 initiative will equip a research ship with a special trawl net and state-of-the-art CCTV equipment.
The vessel will monitor salmon migration routes and gather information about the movements of young fish and the problems they face at sea.
It will also help assess the effects of commercial fishing on young salmon.
The Fisheries Research Service Vessel Scotia will operate in the Faeroe/Shetland Channel.
The second phase of the programme will track the fish in the Greenland Sea in August.
The research will then be used to inform legislation on species conservation.
The project is funded by the Scottish Executive, the Atlantic Salmon Trust and the Norwegian government.
Scotland's deputy environment minister, Lewis Macdonald, said: "The number of Scottish fish returning to the rivers in which they were spawned has fallen by at least 50% since the 1970s.
"The greatest decline has been in the number of early spring salmon.
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Little is known of the location, movement patterns and hazards facing young salmon at sea
