A new blog from a new member of WSFT staff!

        Juvenile salmonid processing with
GFT; Jackie speedily measuring 
while I try to keep up with the tally! 
Photo: Jamie Ribbens - GFT

Hello to all, I'm Adam Beynon-Jones, and am currently on my third day of my new post as Assistant Biologist, having taken over the role from Kate Bachelor. So before the exciting info about what we've been up to since I started, I'll begin with a boring bit about myself and my background. Feel free to yawn!

Fish species sampling at Barony.
Yes, I am rowing the boat back-to-front, 
but the net deploys more easily from 
the bow! 
Photo: Donald Patterson

Shortly before a fish rescue operation
with Annan Fishery Board. It was 
VERY cold!
Photo: Adam Beynon-Jones

I have entered into the world of freshwater fisheries conservation and management at a later life stage than some, with music and sound production being my initial pathway in life after leaving High School. However, as a lifelong countryside and nature loving fly angler, my priority of interests took a natural shift as I discovered that I preferred to be out and about in the countryside pursuing voluntary fieldwork with fisheries organisations; as opposed to operating sound and lighting equipment in busy nightclubs surrounded by........ What's a polite expression for drunken idiots?

A remote electro-fishing site in the
Naver catchment, with good numbers 
of juvenile salmonids and positively 
prolific numbers of midges! 
Photo: Adam Beynon-Jones

Having volunteered with Forth Fisheries Trust, I went on to study Aquaculture and Fisheries Management at the Barony College, whilst undertaking continuing voluntary work with Galloway Fisheries Trust and the River Annan Fishery Board/Trust; many thanks to all concerned for putting up with me and my constant questions!

Here's one to show that I don't always cheat
with my fish capture methods! A lovely 
grilse from the Naver, safely returned. 
Photo: Duncan Paul

A lovely bucket full of eels,
fry and parr - Naver catchment.
Photo: Adam Beynon-Jones

I have since been employed as a seasonal staff member by the River Naver Fisheries, Annan Fishery Board/Trust, and again with the Naver last summer - I must have done something right the first time around!

It seems I am following in Kate's footsteps somewhat, as both her and I have worked as seasonal staff for the River Naver Fisheries shortly before joining WSFT; a rather nice coincidence! While I have not met Kate I have heard great things, and having started to look into some of the excellent work she has done for WSFT (with Fred the fish - a fun fairground game designed and modelled by Kate being a firm favourite so far), I am clearly just scratching the surface whilst feeling very excited about my days to come with WSFT.


The last few of these days have been busy to say the least what with mink raft checking, smolt trapping, and a VERY large haul of sea trout in the Laxford estuary!

Spot the rodent prints to the right of 
the truck key... 
Photo: Shona Marshall

Rodent prints were found in two tunnels during Monday's mink raft/tunnel checks, with no mink prints present; great to see, or rather not to see. We will be checking other raft locations in the near future to help assess their necessity due to the long sustained lack of mink evidence. However, whilst the rafts and tunnels remain clear of prints, it is vital to maintain this monitoring in order to ensure that mink are kept out of the area, and eventually eradicated from any neighbouring areas. If anybody would like to volunteer to monitor a mink raft (or three!), it is a very simple process that only needs carried out once every two weeks. Simply pop down to the raft/tunnel, lift the lid and check for mink footprints in the clay, and report back! For further details and simple training please get in touch via email (wsft@btconnect.com)                                                                      

Always good to see the fish swim off!
Photo: Shona Marshall

The smolt trap will be winding to a close soon, although while the numbers are decreasing, sea trout and salmon smolts continue to be caught, with sea trout predominating. The trap contained 7 sea trout with 5 salmon and 3 brown trout on Monday, 6 sea trout with 1 salmon and 1 brown trout yesterday, down to just 2 sea trout today (Wednesday 20th). The fish have been in excellent condition, and are looking stunning; it's fantastic to see them off to a good start as they venture towards the salt water.

Gorgeous sea trout smolts from the trap today.
Photo: Adam Beynon-Jones

Our hardy volunteers keeping a
close eye on the many baskets of fish!
Photo: Adam Beynon-Jones

Yesterday, the sweep netting sample in the Laxford estuary came very close to breaking the record of 1000 fish, with 924 sea trout, and two salmon smolts caught in a single sweep! A range of sea trout specimens of differing sizes were quickly placed into buckets with care being taken to retain tagged fish, whilst the large remainder of fish were counted out of the net and released back into the water with a flurry of hands and fins. It was hectic to say the least, with count numbers still being shouted across from those of us at the net bag towards Shona and the volunteers who were well into the sample processing. Although the target sample of fish to be processed is fifty, this figure crept up to 80, undoubtedly a result of the excitement of such a large haul. 22 recaptures were processed, although more may have been released despite our efforts to retain the tagged specimens. In any case, this will help provide useful information of fish growth rates which, going by the amount of rag worm and sprats the fish had been gorging themselves on, one would expect to be rather healthy!

A happy and slightly exhausted Shona 
counting sea lice. 
Photo: Adam Beynon-Jones

Despite the dreary weather and overflowing water into some waders (namely mine and Sandy's), it was a brilliant afternoon, none of which could have been achieved without our volunteers, so a big thank you to you all!

A beautiful silvery speckled sea trout
with a belly full!
Photo: Adam Beynon-Jones

While such prolific numbers of fish cannot always be guaranteed to be caught, the sweep netting is a great event to be a part of, and anybody who would like to come along to lend a pair of hands is more than welcome - you needn't necessarily get wet, there are other useful jobs to be done besides trying to avoid filling up your waders, such as helping pull the net from the bank, and assisting with fish processing. If interested, please get in touch via (wsft@btconnect.com)                

A quick nip, and the tag is in.
Photo: Adam Beynon-Jones

So, a busy few days and a great start to my new ventures with WSFT. I would like to say a big thank you to Shona and everybody we have met for being so helpful and welcoming to me and my girlfriend Helen. We are still unpacking, but settling in nicely. We love the wood burning stove in our cottage, it's just a shame the weather is still requiring us to use it!

That's all for now, we will be back soon with more updates as we head into the busy season of fieldwork. Expect to see pictures of me fully sealed in my midge jacket with matching rubber gloves. If the summer ever comes that is!

Is it spring yet?

Oops, just realised that I've done it again and forgotten the blog. Sorry, technology is a new science for me!

There's snow in them thar hills! (S. Marshall)

Things are starting to get busier in the world - and field - of the fisheries trust, as we move ever nearer to summer. Not that you can believe that with the weather. There have been a lot of cold northerlies recently, which hasn't helped with either the fishing or the sampling. Snow melt has a negative effect on both fish movement and biologist enthusiasm! Fingers crossed for an improvement soon though.

Trap in situ (S. Marshall)

In March I attended an excellent RAFTS Conference in Battleby. The perfect chance to network and listen to some very enlightening talks. The themes covered marine issues and building resilience - very apt at the current time and in light of the poor catch returns for 2014. While much of last years poor catch is likely to have been related to the exceptional - for non-anglers! - summer, it is still important to consider all aspects of the fishes life cycle and what we can do to help them thrive.

Salmon heading downstream (S. Marshall)

April was a month of mixed blessing, as the field work started but the snow returned. The trap was installed in Badna Bay, and has proved very successful to date with a good number of salmon smolts captured. There have been less sea trout than salmon this time, but we may well have missed them. The trap was breached for a period, with water going over and round the lead net, which would have allowed the fish to bypass the trap and head to sea. Saying that, there were still a few that went in, so not all fish are sensible!

The net heads out (M. Dawkins)

April also saw the start of the sweep netting, although the rain meant that it was only possible to do the Laxford. The estuary was extremely shallow and we could see the sediment for a long way out. A bit of a waste of time we thought but we had a good number of volunteers present so decided to give it a go anyway. What do we know? We moved a little further down the estuary to find slightly deeper water (mid thigh instead of knee!) and what a sweep it was - 166 sea trout and one wee salmon smolt. Most of the sea trout were smolts, which lends yet more evidence to the feeling that we may have missed the sea trout running out of Badna Bay, although there were a couple of recaptures (one from the trap a few days before).

The net coming in (M. Kinghorn)

If you would like to help with any of the fieldwork then get in touch (wsft@btconnect.com) we're always happy to have people along and an extra pair of hands is well appreciated. Netting dates are posted on the website (www.wsft.co.uk), but worth checking with us to make sure that the weather has been kind.

The Ghillies Seminar was held on 24 April and. while the audience was small, everyone seemed to have a good time. The external speakers kicked off with Billy MacBain from Marine Scotland Compliance, talking about the marine fishery and its regulation. Catherine Collins, Marine Scotland Science, then came in and introduced us to sea lice and sea lice dispersal modelling. It was very interesting to see how far we have come in understanding this issue - and scary at how much we still need to know!

Adding clay to the raft (A. Barnes)

After lunch we had a talk on the American mink and the Scottish Mink Initiative. A very interesting and entertaining talk, the volunteers present were able to find out more about the project and the importance of the work they do. We then finished with a lively, but considered, discussion of the Wild Fisheries Review and the proposed legislation relating to the licencing of the killing of salmon. There was a lot of agreement within the room and it was helpful to get the views of the people on the ground.

In the main, an interesting meeting, well received by all within the room. This meeting also gives the ghillies - many of whom are lone workers - to network amongst themselves and the lunchtime discussions were many. A massive 'thank you' to all of our speakers for their extremely interesting talks and the audience for attending and participating. The notes from the Seminar are available on the website (www.wsft.co.uk).

The Annual Review has also been completed now, and can be downloaded from the website (http://home.btconnect.com/wsft/review%202014.pdf). If you run a holiday home or fishing lodge and would like a hard copy to display then please let me know.

Happy volunteer (M. Kinghorn)

For the last month we have been delighted to have Michael helping with our fieldwork. Michael is a teacher from Switzerland and has been volunteering as part of his sabbatical from work. The extra hand has been gratefully received and we have been able to introduce him to a range of issues and work programmes within the Trust. Not all work though - and he has been able to explore the hills and lochs of the area, usually fishing rod in hand!

As Michael leaves, we will be welcoming Kate's replacement in the form of Adam Beynon-Jones. Adam will be joining the Trust as our new biologist in the middle of May. He comes in good time for the start of the sampling season proper and hopefully will have enough time to settle in before the midges start for real! However, Adam will introduce himself in the next Blog.

We wish everyone tight lines for the season. Remember the 'Alphabet of Scottish Lochs' Challenge - where you try to catch a brown trout from a variety of lochs - and let us know how you get on. Why not buy the Sutherland Trust fly to help you? Available from http://home.btconnect.com/wsft/page17.html