While currently in a state of recovery in the United Kingdom (UK), the grayling (Thymallus thymallus) remains of conservation interest due to its historical decline, socio-economic value and the potential impact of hatchery-reared stock fish on the genetic structure and diversity of wild populations. However, little is known about the levels and distribution of genetic diversity among UK grayling populations. To this end, 27 UK populations of grayling were genotyped across 10 microsatellite loci and sequenced at the mtDNA D-Loop. All populations clustered into four higher-level groups: Northern England, Southern England, Wales, and group consisting of a mixture of native and introduced populations. Ten populations showed evidence of bottleneck or founder effects, and the effective population size (Ne) was low in all populations. In most cases, historical stocking records agreed with the genetic relationships revealed in the study. A D-Loop haplotype network supported the groupings observed in the nuclear data, while phylogenetic inference places the UK populations amongst Central European samples. The combined datasets demonstrate that many of the UK populations can be treated as separate Management Units and we recommend that to preserve population specific genetic diversity, that stocking should be an intervention of last resort. However, if stocking is deemed essential, brood stock should originate from the river to be stocked

The change in life history of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) on the River Dee over the last 60 years is described. Over the last 60 years, salmon have shown a change in run timing, the majority currently entering the river between August and October compared with prior to June. This has coincided with a change in the sea age composition, which was dominated by multi-sea winter salmon prior to the 1980s after which the proportion of 1sea-winter fish increased until they now dominate the mature population. Growth rates of salmon in fresh water remained relatively stable until the mid-1980s and then increased. By the end of the 1990s juvenile salmon were, by the end of their first and second year, respectively, *60 and *19%, on average, larger than they were between the late 1930s and mid1980s. This has been reflected in a change in the age composition of smolts where the mean smolt age has declined from *2 years prior to the 1980s to *1.6 years in the late 1990s. There was no observed trend in post-smolt (marine) growth for salmon. Size at return for 1SW salmon appeared stable while there is some evidence of an increase in mean length of 2SW salmon at the end of the 1990s. A steady state life history model was developed which suggests an increase in the instantaneous rate of mortality by 2.9% from 1. 495 year -1 in 1937/1938 to 1.538 year -1 in 1967/1969 and by 21.6% to 1.870 year -1 in 1997/ 1999. This is considered to explain the shift in mean age at maturity from 5.2 to 4.8 to 3.9 years for the three periods examined. There is close agreement between the observed mean age at maturity and that predicted by the model suggesting optimal lifetime reproductive success.

Recruitment of salmonids is a result of density‐dependent factors, specifically egg production in the previous year, and density‐independent environmental processes driven by discharge and temperature. With the plethora of knowledge on major drivers of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and brown trout Salmo trutta recruitment, there is a requirement to explore less known species, such as European grayling Thymallus thymallus, whose postemergence time coincides with period of increasing temperature and low discharge. This study assessed drivers of grayling recruitment in a southern English chalk stream, a system vulnerable to discharge and temperature alterations under future climate change predictions. The analyses explored age 0+ grayling survival in relation to conspecific and heterospecific densities and discharge‐ and temperature‐derived factors. The final mixed‐effects model revealed a positive relationship between age 0+ grayling survival and incubation temperature anomaly and age 0+ trout abundance. Similarly, postincubation temperature anomaly had a positive effect on 0+ grayling survival, but only up to a threshold temperature of 13.5°C, beyond which it had a negative effect. In contrast, increasing number of days with low discharge postincubation negatively influenced age 0+ grayling survival, with no evidence of an effect of elevated discharges following spawning. Our results emphasise the importance of maintaining natural discharge regimes in salmonid rivers by tackling multiple stressors operating at the catchment scale, including land and water use to mitigate for predicted climate driven changes. In addition, further research on recruitment drivers in less stable, rain‐fed systems, is required.

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To validate age determination from scales in European grayling Thymallus thymallus, the scale-read age of fish was compared with the true age obtained by tag-recapture analysis. A total of 3997 individuals were tagged with visible implant tags and passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags in the River Wylye, south-west England during 1999-2007. Annual repeat surveys were undertaken and collected scales read without prior knowledge of tag-recapture age. Accuracy of fish ageing by scales was highest in 1 and 2 year-old fish but decreased in older fish. In later life stages (>4 years old), underestimation of age occurred and the error in reading scales rose to 51.9% in 5 year-old fish. Age assigned from scales underestimated the tag-recapture assigned age by as much as 3 years. This study suggests that use of scales is an appropriate method to age a short-lived population of T. thymallus inhabiting productive lotic systems. The underestimation of age in older fish, however, needs to be considered in the management of fish stocks because it may lead to undesirable exploitation of population.