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Post by Hoppy on Jan 4, 2008 16:29:22 GMT -1
Environment Agency encourage salmon to the upper Itchen
This winter the Environment Agency will begin an annual programme to stock areas of the upper Itchen with juvenile salmon. Salmon eggs are collected, fertilised and incubated ready to be released when they hatch in the spring.
Salmon return to the very same areas where they are born. The Environment Agency has improved access for migrating salmon on the River Itchen so the fish can migrate to the upper reaches, ideal for spawning and survival. To encourage this process, Environment Agency Fisheries Officers are stocking the juvenile salmon into upstream nursery areas. When they return as adults in two or three years time, they will naturally want to swim up to the place of their birth.
Hannah Wright, Fisheries Project Officer, Hampshire said:
“This is a very valuable programme that dramatically increases the chance of eggs developing into returning adult fish. We know from research carried out that egg survival in the wild is quite poor, particularly in the lower stretches of the river. We hope this work will open up the whole of the River Itchen to this endangered and highly protected fish
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