Marine Scotland established a programme of research to assess the status of wild Atlantic salmon from electrofishing data. This included the development of the National Electrofishing Programme for Scotland (NEPS), a generalised random tessellation stratified (GRTS) survey design. The sample frame (the rivers on which samples can fall) includes all rivers below impassable barriers which contain salmon fisheries and can be sampled by wading and electrofishing. NEPS protocols dictate that all species captured during the electrofishing survey should be recorded. This dataset includes counts of salmon (the focus species) and other fish caught by electrofishing as part of the National Electrofishing Programme for Scotland (NEPS). NEPS electrofishing surveys were carried out in 2018, 2019 and 2021. The sample frame and survey design changed between 2019 and 2021. Counts are provided for each species and run (pass). Salmon and trout are further separated by lifestage (fry and parr). Site-visit information (site name, Easting, Northing, date fished and area fished) are also provided. The salmon counts contained in this dataset underpin the analyses reported by Malcolm et al. (2019; 2020; 2023).

Important notes:

Comprehensive quality control has only been completed for salmon.

Survey designs differ between NEPS 2018/19 and NEPS 2021.

Users should familiarise themselves with the NEPS survey design, data collection and data entry protocols prior to using these data. These details are provided by Malcolm et al. (2018, 2019, 2023). See also the following web pages: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-electrofishing-programme-for-...

Collaborators

NEPS 2018 was supported by funding from Marine Scotland, SEPA and SNH.

NEPS 2019 and NEPS 2021 was funded by Marine Scotland and Crown Estate Scotland (CES).

The NEPS survey design, project management, data analysis and reporting were funded under Marine Scotland Science Service Level Agreement (SLA) FW02g.

The following collaborating organisations are thanked for their valuable efforts in facilitating or delivering data collection for NEPS 2018: West Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Northern District Salmon Fishery Board; Caithness District Salmon Fishery Board; Helmsdale District Salmon Fishery Board; Brora District Salmon Fishery Board; Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Cromarty Firth Fisheries Trust; Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust; Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Trust; Spey Foundation; The Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust; Ugie District Salmon Fishery Board; Ythan District Fishery Board; River Dee Trust; The Esk Rivers & Fisheries Trust; Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board; Forth Fisheries Trust; Tweed Foundation; The River Annan Trust; Nith Catchment Fisheries Trust; Galloway Fisheries Trust; Ayrshire Rivers Trust; Clyde River Foundation; Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust; Argyll Fisheries Trust; Lochaber Fisheries Trust; Skye & Wester Ross Fisheries Trust; Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust; Waterside Ecology Independent Ecological Consultants.

The following collaborating organisations are thanked for their valuable efforts in facilitating or delivering data collection for NEPS 2019: West Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Northern District Salmon Fishery Board; Caithness District Salmon Fishery Board; Helmsdale District Salmon Fishery Board; Brora District Salmon Fishery Board; Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Cromarty Firth District Salmon Fishery Board; Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust; Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Trust; Nairn District Salmon Fishery Board; Spey Foundation; The Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust; Ugie District Salmon Fishery Board; Ythan District Fishery Board; River Dee Trust; The Esk Rivers & Fisheries Trust; Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board; Forth Rivers Trust; Tweed Foundation; The River Annan Trust; Nith Catchment Fisheries Trust; Galloway Fisheries Trust; Ayrshire Rivers Trust; Clyde River Foundation; Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust; Argyll Fisheries Trust; Lochaber Fisheries Trust; Skye & Wester Ross Fisheries Trust; Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust; University of the Highlands and Islands – The Rivers and Lochs Institute.

The following collaborating organisations are thanked for their valuable efforts in facilitating or delivering data collection for NEPS 2021: West Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Northern District Salmon Fishery Board; Caithness District Salmon Fishery Board; Helmsdale District Salmon Fishery Board; Brora District Salmon Fishery Board; Kyle of Sutherland Fisheries Trust; Cromarty Firth District Salmon Fisheries Board; Ness District Salmon Fishery Board; Beauly District Salmon Fishery Board; Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Trust; Nairn District Salmon Fishery Board; Spey Foundation; The Deveron, Bogie & Isla Rivers Charitable Trust; Ugie District Salmon Fishery Board; Ythan District Fishery Board; River Dee Trust; The Esk Rivers & Fisheries Trust; Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board; Forth Rivers Trust; Tweed Foundation; Nith Catchment Fisheries Trust; Galloway Fisheries Trust; Ayrshire Rivers Trust; Clyde River Foundation; Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust; Argyll Fisheries Trust; Lochaber Fisheries Trust; Skye and Lochalsh Fisheries Trust; Wester Ross Fisheries Trust; Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust