A person holding a fish.
Farmed fish are released into the Dalälven River.

SLU’s Fisheries Research Station in Älvkarleby has now closed for good

News published:  19/11/2025

After more than 100 years of operation, Sweden’s first facility for compensatory fish farming of salmon and trout has now permanently closed its doors.

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) formally shut down its operations at the Fisheries Research Station in Älvkarleby on 14 November. The facility is now being handed over to the property owner, Vattenfall, who will also take over the remaining fish in the hatchery for later release.

The history of the Fisheries Research Station

Since 1871, the Fisheries Research Station in Älvkarleby has played a key role in preserving the salmon and trout populations in the Dalälven River. The compensatory rearing programme was originally established to compensate for the loss of salmon and trout stocks caused by hydropower development in Älvkarleby, and later focused on preserving the river’s native populations.

Since the 1990s, SLU’s Fisheries Research Station in Älvkarleby has bred 100% of the sea trout (approximately 55,000 fish per year) and about 30% of the salmon (around 60,000 fish per year) released into the Dalälven River.The station has also served as an important platform for research and education, hosting courses in fish tagging and animal ethics, and employing skilled staff with long experience in fish rearing.

Without the Fisheries Research Station in Älvkarleby, there would be no viable populations of Dalälven salmon and trout today. Nor would we have known how pharmaceuticals affect salmon migration, or how much salmonid fish a cormorant actually eats — to mention just a few of the many research studies conducted here, says Ann-Britt Florin, who has been responsible for SLU’s operations at the Fisheries Research Station in Älvkarleby.

Funding has ended

The Fisheries Research Station in Älvkarleby is being closed due to the discontinuation of funding for its breeding and release operations. SLU has been responsible for the rearing and release of salmon and sea trout in the Dalälven River on behalf of the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management, which has financed the activities through a fund that no longer has sufficient resources to sustain the station in the long term. Since 2023, SLU has been in dialogue with relevant stakeholders to find a long-term solution, but without success. Without new funding, SLU has had no financial possibility to continue operating the station, as compensatory releases are not part of the university’s formal mandate.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all employees, partners and stakeholders who over the years have contributed to the station’s successful work, concludes Ann-Britt Florin.

Consequences for both nature and fisheries

The closure means that the release of salmon and sea trout in the Dalälven River will decrease significantly. Since natural reproduction of these species is severely limited by hydropower dams, the populations risk declining sharply within just a few years. Salmon and sea trout are also important keystone species in the Dalälven ecosystem, and if both weaken or disappear, it could disrupt the food web and lead to changes throughout the ecosystem — affecting other fish species, birds and mammals. In addition, fewer releases of salmon and trout may worsen fishing opportunities for both small-scale coastal fishers and recreational anglers in the river.

More information

Report: Expected ecological consequences of the closure of SLU’s compensatory rearing of salmon and trout in Älvkarleby (in Swedish only).

Questions and answers about the closure of the Fisheries Research Station in Älvkarleby

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