2013 field season begins



We cannot believe it is April already, time definitely flies when you are having fun! The Trust calendar is filling up fast as the field season gets underway and less and less time is spent in the office. It is great to be out and about although we might not be saying that when the midges come out to play. There is just one more day to go until the annual Ghillies Seminar, an opportunity for ghillies, keepers, scientists and other river workers to come together to exchange information and raise any concerns they might have.  This year the focus is on predators and their impacts on salmonid populations.  In addition Tony Andrews of the Atlantic Salmon Trust will be giving two public talks on the Salmon at Sea (SALSEA) project on Thursday 11^th April (Lochinver village Hall at 7:45pm) and Friday 12^th April (Scourie Village Hall at 6:30) All welcome, hope to see you there.

Smolt trap at Badnabay

Last week smolt traps were successfully installed at Bhadaidh Daraich and Badnabay. Water levels are still very low due to the extended dry spell so although they are not running yet we hope to catch the first fish movements.  The main smolt run in west Sutherland tends to be in May and all smolts will be measured and identified to species before continuing their seaward migration. A small tail clip will be taken from the smolts for genetic research, and we are also hoping to tag any kelts as part of the on-going studies into population dynamics and habitat usage.



The last week of March saw the first netting of the year.  Despite the cold water temperatures reducing fish movements it was beautiful weather, and although only two sea trout were caught at both the Polla and the Laxford it was good to see everyone again and the Trust was very happy to welcome two new volunteers so many thanks to all! Unfortunately the fish from the Polla had quite a lot of damage and a high number of sea lice. If you want to find out more about netting or are interested in becoming a volunteer please visit our website at http://home.btconnect.com/wsft/Netting.html

 

Ben Stack as viewed from the sea

As well as the monitoring of the mink rafts (still no signs of mink thankfully) the Trust has been busy with the plankton sampling as part of the sea lice dispersal project in conjunction with the Scottish Association for marine Science and Loch Duart Ltd. As it is spring we are back to sampling every month instead of every two months and it looks like our work will be cut out for us this summer as the plankton blooms! So far the lice counts are down in the March sample compared to the January sample but it will be interesting to see the changes over the coming year. It is always great to be out on the boat even if the weather is less than ideal and there was at least one day when our Michelin man layers and oilskins were a bit of an overkill.  Once again many thanks to Sonja and the boat crews for all their help.

The sea trout tracking project is moving forwards and it is still hoped that funding can be secured to determine the movements of sea trout and their marine habitat usage for conservation purposes. Other upcoming projects include ‘Mayfly in the classroom’ set to start in 2014 as part of the Trust’s educational remit. In preparation it will be mayfly in the office this year as we test the methods and try to raise the mayflies ourselves.  Electrofishing and kick sampling for freshwater invertebrates will form the main part of this year’s educational projects for P1 to P4s in May.

Small Rhododendron bush at Laxford

Looking forward to the summer work programme we hope for nice dry weather for electrofishing between July and September, although given all the good weather we have had so far we must be due for a downturn! Rhododendron mapping on the Reay Forest Estate is set to go ahead and this will involve a few weeks of fieldwork to determine the exact locations and density of bushes.  This information can then be presented as GIS maps for use in eradication programmes as Rhododendron ponticum is one of the main invasive non-native species in Sutherland. Mink rafts will also continue to be monitored around Scourie and Himalayan Balsam removed as part of the biosecurity plan.

 

There was further excitement in the office recently following the arrival of the new Trust tape measures. These are perfect for catch and release and are available in our online shop at http://home.btconnect.com/wsft/Merchandise.html

 

Trust tape measure

For further updates on the Trust’s work please visit our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/westsutherlandfisheriestrust?ref=hl#!/westsutherlandfisheriestrust or follow us on twitter!  https://www.twitter.com/WSFTrust