Post by Hoppy on Aug 24, 2006 19:08:49 GMT -1
Tamar salmon stocks improving
The River Tamar has come under the spotlight in a detailed study of it’s salmon population.
The Tamar is one of a small group of rivers closely monitored by the Environment Agency to provide information on the status of salmon and sea trout stocks in England and Wales.
A new Agency report describes the results of the River Tamar Index Monitoring for 2005 and gives the river a clean bill of health with salmon stocks improving.
The aim of the report is to provide details on fishery performance, spawning success, salmon survival at sea and exploitation by marine fisheries. It also provides information on juvenile salmon and sea trout abundance.
The Environment Agency has several means of calculating the numbers of fish in the river including a tagging programme for salmon smolts (young salmon) migrating seaward, a system of trapping adult salmon and sea trout as they migrate back into the river, fish counters and electric fishing surveys of juvenile salmonids.
The report has revealed that fish life and river habitat has significantly improved, with salmon numbers increasing since the last survey in 2004 with the help of a raft of special fisheries projects.
It is estimated that around 8 per cent of salmon smolts survived to return to the River Tamar as adults in 2005. Given the planned closure of the Irish coastal salmon drift net fishery in 2007, which is known to have exploited fish from South West rivers, the Environment Agency will monitor the survival rate of salmon to see if it improves.
It is estimated that 5,724 adult salmon returned to the River Tamar in 2005, which is 17.5 per cent higher than in 2004. In 2005, 11,240 sea trout are estimated to have run into the River Tamar, which is 5.1 per cent lower than in 2004.
Trapping operations provided 707 adult salmon and 2,245 sea trout for sampling, the majority of which were caught between May and August. Salmon ranged between 50 to 88 cm in length and 2Ib to 15Ib in weight.
More than 64 per cent of the sea trout were ‘maiden fish’ returning to the river to spawn for the first time. The rest were larger fish that had returned to spawn on at least one previous occasion.
The rod catches had dropped and this is believed to reflect low river levels, poor angling conditions in the river and a later than usual run of salmon, rather than a lack of returning adult fish. However, the catch and release rates of salmon and sea trout were higher than in 2004, at 63 and 41 per cent.
Tamar anglers declared rod catch returns of 131 salmon and 315 sea trout in 2005. Anglers participating in the logbook scheme, where they are asked to record the number of fish caught, reported 35 salmon and 73 sea trout, with most fish being caught on the main Tamar, between Gunnislake Weir and Horsebridge.
Robert Hillman, Ecological Appraisal Technical Specialist for the Environment Agency in Cornwall, said: ‘The report shows that salmon stocks in the River Tamar are improving. Our work and the partnership projects provide information of national importance to salmon and sea trout conservation which will ensure that fish stocks, river and lake environments are being safeguarded for the future.’
‘A net limitation order preventing estuary netting and the returning of fish to the river after being caught by rod anglers will give salmon and sea trout a greater chance of reproducing in the Tamar. We would also like to encourage more fishermen to take part in the logbook scheme, which provides us with useful information on the fish they catch and where and when they fish.’
The River Tamar has come under the spotlight in a detailed study of it’s salmon population.
The Tamar is one of a small group of rivers closely monitored by the Environment Agency to provide information on the status of salmon and sea trout stocks in England and Wales.
A new Agency report describes the results of the River Tamar Index Monitoring for 2005 and gives the river a clean bill of health with salmon stocks improving.
The aim of the report is to provide details on fishery performance, spawning success, salmon survival at sea and exploitation by marine fisheries. It also provides information on juvenile salmon and sea trout abundance.
The Environment Agency has several means of calculating the numbers of fish in the river including a tagging programme for salmon smolts (young salmon) migrating seaward, a system of trapping adult salmon and sea trout as they migrate back into the river, fish counters and electric fishing surveys of juvenile salmonids.
The report has revealed that fish life and river habitat has significantly improved, with salmon numbers increasing since the last survey in 2004 with the help of a raft of special fisheries projects.
It is estimated that around 8 per cent of salmon smolts survived to return to the River Tamar as adults in 2005. Given the planned closure of the Irish coastal salmon drift net fishery in 2007, which is known to have exploited fish from South West rivers, the Environment Agency will monitor the survival rate of salmon to see if it improves.
It is estimated that 5,724 adult salmon returned to the River Tamar in 2005, which is 17.5 per cent higher than in 2004. In 2005, 11,240 sea trout are estimated to have run into the River Tamar, which is 5.1 per cent lower than in 2004.
Trapping operations provided 707 adult salmon and 2,245 sea trout for sampling, the majority of which were caught between May and August. Salmon ranged between 50 to 88 cm in length and 2Ib to 15Ib in weight.
More than 64 per cent of the sea trout were ‘maiden fish’ returning to the river to spawn for the first time. The rest were larger fish that had returned to spawn on at least one previous occasion.
The rod catches had dropped and this is believed to reflect low river levels, poor angling conditions in the river and a later than usual run of salmon, rather than a lack of returning adult fish. However, the catch and release rates of salmon and sea trout were higher than in 2004, at 63 and 41 per cent.
Tamar anglers declared rod catch returns of 131 salmon and 315 sea trout in 2005. Anglers participating in the logbook scheme, where they are asked to record the number of fish caught, reported 35 salmon and 73 sea trout, with most fish being caught on the main Tamar, between Gunnislake Weir and Horsebridge.
Robert Hillman, Ecological Appraisal Technical Specialist for the Environment Agency in Cornwall, said: ‘The report shows that salmon stocks in the River Tamar are improving. Our work and the partnership projects provide information of national importance to salmon and sea trout conservation which will ensure that fish stocks, river and lake environments are being safeguarded for the future.’
‘A net limitation order preventing estuary netting and the returning of fish to the river after being caught by rod anglers will give salmon and sea trout a greater chance of reproducing in the Tamar. We would also like to encourage more fishermen to take part in the logbook scheme, which provides us with useful information on the fish they catch and where and when they fish.’