Galloway Fisheries Trust

 

Galloway Fisheries Trust Projects

The GFT run a number of focused projects aimed at restoring and protecting local native fish stocks and their habitats. Please see below for some examples.

Conservation of Atlantic Salmon in Scotland (CASS) Project

In 2005 the River Bladnoch, Tarf Water and key spawning tributaries were designated as a "Special Area of Conservation" (SAC) by the European Union for its internationally important population of Atlantic salmon.

In August 2004, an application for funding for the Bladnoch as part of a larger EU LIFE project entitled "Conservation of Atlantic Salmon in Scotland" (CASS) which covers 8 SAC rivers, was accepted by the European Union. Half of the cost of the project was met by LIFE, the EU financial instrument assisting with the conservation of natural habitats and species under the Natura 2000 network, with the remainder covered by Scottish Natural Heritage, Scottish Executive, GFT, Forestry Commission (Scotland) and the Bladnoch District Salmon Fishery Board.

The CASS project was focused towards conserving and enhancing Atlantic salmon. The project was the single largest salmon conservation project ever undertaken in Scotland and had a budget of over £3m. The 8 rivers involved in the project hold nearly 40% of Scotland's Atlantic salmon resource.

On the Bladnoch, extensive works worth around £300,000 were completed between 2004 and 2008. The project involved undertaking a detailed monitoring and research programme covering water quality analysis, egg box experiments, analysis of scale samples, electrofishing/habitat surveys and extensive research of the smolt population.

A wide range of practical enhancements were completed across important spawning and juvenile nursery areas. Instream and riparian enhancement works included:

1. The planting of deciduous trees over 21 km of river bank.
2. Fencing off 5.5 km of overgrazed banks.
3. Control of excessive erosion along 500 m of river bank.
4. Improving 36,000 m² of instream fish access and habitat through rock placement and removal of blockages from the watercourses.

A hatchery programme focusing on the headwaters of the catchment was undertaken. Between 2004 and 2008, almost 300,000 salmon fry were stocked into the Bladnoch Catchment.

Other improvements include approximately 39 Ha of coniferous plantations being clearfelled and chipped, in order to improve water chemistry and the adjacent riparian habitat.

The last remaining netting rights on the River Bladnoch were also secured by the River Bladnoch District Salmon Fishery Board on a 99 year lease as part of the CASS project. The Kirwaugh net fishery had an annual average catch of 375 salmon per season, which included the capture of spring salmon. The lease of these rights will now allow more salmon to return to the river to spawn.

For more information see www.snh.org.uk/salmonLIFEproject/.

Sulwath Connections

The GFT is part of a large landscape partnership covering the coastlands and river valleys of Dumfries and Galloway named the 'Sulwath Connections Landscape Partnership'. The area this partnership covers ranges from Stranraer in the west to Langholm in the east. GFT, alongside many of the other partners, were working towards this funding goal for over 4 years and were delighted when the partnership was given stage 2 approval under the Heritage Lottery Fund Landscape Partnership scheme. The Sulwath Connections Project aims to deliver 20 improvement projects with a budget of £3.9 million over three years.

All 20 projects in the partnership are linked in some way to the landscape and cover such projects as Bruce's Trail, conservation of historic churchyards, riparian and instream habitat management and disabled angling access. The GFT has the Galloway Bankside Habitats Project which encompasses habitat improvement work on the Piltanton Burn, Rivers Luce, Cree, Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire Dee and Urr.

The Sulwath Connections Project is supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, Scottish Natural Heritage and Dumfries and Galloway Council.

For up to date news on the progress of this project please see the news section and also www.dgcommunity.net/sulwathconnections.

Hatchery

The GFT salmonid hatchery programme stocks up to 400,000 eyed ova and fry back into the Bladnoch, Cree and Fleet. Fish are always returned to their natal river. The hatchery programme was set up in 1992 to aid and promote the recovery of the acidified headwaters of certain rivers. Salmon eggs fail to hatch at a pH <5.5, therefore in order to counter this problem, salmon are stocked back into these waters as fry which are more able to cope with the low pH episodes. Further hatcheries are run by DSFBs on the Luce and Urr.

In 2005, GFT designed and oversaw the construction of the Dee hatchery, which was funded through Scottish Power Landfill Tax Credits. This hatchery, run by the DSFB, can hold up to 300,000 eggs and will play an important role in the recovery of the Dee salmon population.

Are hatcheries the answer?
There is much controversy surrounding the use of hatcheries in fishery management, especially regarding bad practice. Examples of this include stocking fish into areas which already contain healthy populations of wild fish or stocking fish from one catchment into another.

It is known that hatcheries can actually contribute to the decline in wild fish, particularly when fish have been introduced from different catchments. Hatchery fish have also been known to out-compete wild stock, lower the fitness of potential offspring when crossed with wild stock and the progeny have even failed to survive when stocked into the wrong places. Much of this has been highlighted through genetic studies, where fish of hatchery origin may fail to ascend obstacles such as waterfalls as a result of the wrong 'genetic make-up'.

Hatcheries can, however, be a useful tool in fisheries management. In situations where the natural population has become critically low, man may step in to prevent in-breeding within the remaining population or re-establish viable populations in areas where populations have become extinct.

GFT have developed a code of best practice to counteract problems associated with hatcheries. This considers issues such as genetics, stocking with native stock and the stocking at different stages of development (e.g. eyed ova vs fry). Broodstock fish are collected each winter prior to spawning using different methods including electrofishing, rod and line, netting and fish traps. Broodstock are kept separated into catchment and sub-catchment categories so that their progeny have retained their natal genetic integrity and they are stocked back into their natal sub-catchment.

Alien Species Identification and Control

It is well recognised that the presence of 'alien non-native' species can have significant negative impacts on natural species. The local water environment has its fair share of alien species which are a concern to GFT, anglers and conservationists. It is important for GFT to identify and locate the key species of concern. How to address the various alien species is rarely easy. Usually it requires a multi-organisational approach and is often expensive. It is always best to stop alien species becoming established and good bio-security measures are essential. In 2009, all Fishery Trusts will be writing Bio-security Plans for their areas aimed at controlling the introduction of new alien species.

The key alien species which the GFT are working on are listed below:

North American Signal Crayfish (ASC): Loch Ken and surrounding watercourses (mid Kirkcudbrightshire Dee catchment) contain a huge population of ASC which are feared to be impacting on the aquatic biota, especially fish, through predation, competition for habitat / food and causing erosion by extensive burrowing into banks. GFT chair an ASC working group looking into ways to limit the spread of and how best to control ASC. GFT also hold, for scientific purposes, the necessary licences to trap crayfish. A second smaller population is present near Gatehouse of Fleet.

Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hogweed and Himalayan Balsum: all these plant species are causing problems on certain areas of the Water of App, Luce, Cree and Urr, mostly through loss of bank side vegetation, increased erosion and reducing access by people. GFT has mapped the location and numbers of these plants and is now looking for funding to start eradication programmes.

American Mink: The devastating impacts of mink predation on waterfowl and water voles is well known. Mink are opportunistic predators and they will kill spawning salmon and trout on spawning beds. Research from the Western Isles also showed that mink can significantly reduce salmon and trout parr numbers. Since the invention of the highly successful GCT Mink Raft, many experts now believe that co-ordinated focussed catchment wide trapping programmes can eradicate mink from large areas. There are a number of initiatives now across the UK and most seem to be working successfully. In Dumfries and Galloway a trapping programme was started on the Annan in 2007. In 2008, Scottish Power agreed to provide funding for GFT to start a mink trapping programme across the Kirkcudbrightshire Dee and Water of Fleet. The trapping is undertaken by landowners, anglers, conservationists and gamekeepers in a co-ordinated and planned manner.

Galloway Fisheries Trust

Fisheries House, Station Industrial Estate, Newton Stewart, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland. DG8 6ND
Telephone: 01671 403011      Fax: 01671 402248      E-mail: mail@gallowayfisheriestrust.org
Scottish Registered Charity No. SC020751

 

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