'These figures are stark,' Environment Agency chief executive Philip Duffy says, and the numbers back him up. New research from the Environment Agency, Cefas and Natural Resources Wales shows salmon stocks in England are now at their lowest level since records began, with 95% of principal salmon rivers below the level needed to sustain their populations in the 2025 assessment. For readers in the North, that lands close to home. This is the same national picture running through the Trent, the Ouse, Yorkshire’s wider catchments and the River Don: rivers under heavy strain, but also rivers where careful repair has shown that decline is not always the end of the story.

The slide has been sharp. Last year, 88% of principal rivers were below target. This year it is 95%, the worst figure yet. Where 15 to 20 young salmon out of every 100 once returned from sea as adults, the agencies say only one or two now make it back. The report is clear that England is not dealing with this alone. The same pattern can be seen across the North Atlantic, with much of the pressure sitting at sea and beyond the reach of any one country. Even so, the official verdict is that problems in rivers here at home still matter greatly: too little water, poor water quality and damaged habitat are all dragging stocks down.

As part of its reporting to the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation, the Environment Agency has set out fresh commitments running to 2032. The agency says it will restore 2,282 hectares of peatland and improve flows below reservoirs so salmon rivers hold enough water during dry periods. It also says water companies and other abstractors will face closer scrutiny to make sure they are not taking more water than rivers can spare. That matters in northern catchments as much as anywhere else. When levels drop, the pressure on spawning grounds and young fish only gets worse.

On pollution, the promise is bigger enforcement and more practical repair. The Environment Agency says it will step up inspections of farms and wastewater treatment works, while backing more than 800 projects aimed at cutting pollution from wastewater. That will be the measure local communities judge it by. Places along northern rivers have heard warm words before. If ministers and regulators are serious about bringing salmon back, people will expect cleaner water in the Trent, Ouse and Don, not simply another round of national pledges.

The habitat work is sizeable on paper. By 2032, the agency says 105 migration barriers will be cleared or improved, habitat will be restored at 252 sites and trees will be planted along 648 hectares of riverbank to help keep water cool and clean. That can sound technical until it is seen on the ground. A removed weir, a reconnected channel or a shaded bank can mean the difference between fish reaching spawning areas or turning back. In river towns that have watched old industrial damage and modern neglect stack up together, those changes are anything but minor.

There is, importantly, some proof that this work can pay off. The Environment Agency says salmon are returning to the River Trent and the River Ouse after efforts to improve water quality and remove barriers to migration. Those are not token examples. They show that, where the right pressures are tackled, a river can begin to recover. Yorkshire offers another pointed reminder. The Great Yorkshire Rivers Partnership is working to reconnect rivers and reopen fish passage, giving migratory fish access to stretches they have not reached for generations. The recent return of salmon to parts of the River Don is held up by the agency as a sign of what becomes possible when routes upstream are opened again.

Later in 2025, the Environment Agency says its next River Basin Management Plans will show that faster action is needed to remove unnecessary weirs and other barriers that block migration. After a stock assessment this bleak, that sounds less like a technical adjustment and more like unfinished business. For the North, that is the thread running through this story. England’s salmon numbers are at a record low, but the Trent, the Ouse and the Don show recovery is not some distant theory. If government, regulators and polluters are pushed hard enough, rivers can still be repaired for wildlife and for the communities that live beside them.