Guide to scale interpretation and age estimation for Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) from French populations
As with a large number of species, studying the biology and ecology of the Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.), notably its population dynamics and life-history strategies, involves analysing its demographic characteristics. This analysis requires age estimation, essentially carried out on the basis of hard, periodic-growth structures such as scales. This new guide follows on from the 1985 guide, in order to confirm the size-age keys of current populations and to summarise the main difficulties currently encountered for interpreting scales.
Contents
- Presentation of the species: distribution, biological cycle, genetic and demographic characteristics, management and current status of salmon populations in France, populations analysed
- Collecting and preparing the scales for the scale-reading examination
- Description of the morphology and structure of the salmon scale
- Age estimation
- Examples of typical scales
- Using scales to distinguish between Atlantic Salmon, Brown Trout and Pink Salmon
- Difficulties encountered, proposed solutions and recommendations
- General recommendations
- References
Keywords: Atlantic Salmon - Salmo salar - Scale - Scale reading - Age estimation - France
Guide pour l’interprétation des écailles et l’estimation de l’âge chez le saumon atlantique (salmo salar) dans les populations françaises
| Guides and protocols
| September 2022
L’étude de la biologie et de l’écologie du saumon atlantique (Salmo salar L.), notamment de sa dynamique des populations et de ses stratégies d’histoire de vie, passe par l’analyse des caractéristiques démographiques. Elle nécessite l’estimation de l’âge, essentiellement réalisée à partir de structures dures à croissance périodique comme les écailles. Ce nouveau guide confirme les clés taille-âge des populations françaises actuelles, et synthétise les difficultés rencontrées pour l’interprétation des écailles.
