Advisory Service

Introduction

Scope of the Advisory Service

The Trust's Biologist has 18 years' experience of working on United Kingdom rivers, with contacts in this country, Ireland, Norway, Canada and elsewhere. Subject to his commitments as Co-ordinator for the support of West Coast Stock Conservation and Restoration, he is able to provide preliminary advice, before detailed planning or implementation of salmon and sea trout management project is undertaken, on the following subjects:

Salmon and Sea Trout biology

• Basic biological requirements of key species
• Limiting factors
• Survey design
• Sampling protocols
• Scale reading
• Water quality

Salmon and Sea Trout population management

• Redd counting
• Stocking Methods
• Catch and release policy and techniques
• Fish and egg handling and transport
• Tagging

Habitat

• In-stream and riparian habitat assessment
• In-stream and riparian habitat management techniques

Project Management

• Planning, monitoring and evaluation

Costs

• Project design
• Cost/benefit analysis of possible management actions
• Project maintenance

Conditions
This assistance is aimed at providing advice to smaller salmon fishery management organisations, who are considering undertaking enhancement and/or monitoring projects, on the feasibility and potential scope of their proposals, and on the range of professional services that are available to implement specific projects.

Note: The Trust requests that expenses incurred in the provision of advice should be covered. If assistance is rendered that requires the commitment of significant effort and time, the Trust expects recipients to make an appropriate donation to support the funding of its work.

Contact Point
John Webb
Fisheries Research Services
PO Box 101
Victoria Road
Torry
Aberdeen AB11 9DB

Tel: 01224 876544
Fax: 01224 295413
Email: J.Webb@marlab.ac.uk

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Catch and Release

It is compulsory to release early-running salmon before 16 June in England & Wales, but a growing proportion of fish caught both north and south of the Border are now released throughout the season. The reasoning is simple - if carefully handled, the prospects for survival and spawning are very high, and the increased numbers of fish who reach the redds make a valuable contribution at a time when there are so many threats to the maintenance of salmon stocks in UK rivers. In the case of early-running stocks, it is important to release males as well as females.

Guidance on the techniques for handling and release is widely available (including a video produced by Fisheries Research Services, Aberdeen, and leaflets issued by the Environment Agency and some Fishery Boards) but it is summarised here for convenience.

Tackle

• Use small barbless hooks (or flatten the barbs with pliers)
• Single hooks are best, and the use of flies is preferable
• Natural baits should be avoided
• For catch and release fishing - thigh or chest waders should be worn to allow the angler to enter the water at a safe location to unhook it and release the fish

Playing the fish

• Bring the fish in firmly and quickly to reduce the likelihood of severe exhaustion
• Use a breaking strain of line or cast that will permit this
• Move the fish out of fast currents if possible

Handling the fish

• Keep the fish in the water. Fish should not be brought out of the water on to the bank
• If a landing net is used, it must be knotless. Avoid abrasion of the scales - do not beach the fish
• Wet your hands before touching the fish
• Be gentle, do not grip the fish tightly - and take extra care with fish early in the season or during warm weather, when they are most vulnerable
• Remove the hook gently - forceps can help (always take a pair of long nosed forceps with you when you go salmon or trout fishing)
• If the fish is deep hooked, cut the line as close to the hook as possible

Reviving and releasing the fish

• Do not weigh the fish - estimate the weight (the weight of a fish can be calculated from an estimate of the length of the fish: tip of nose to centre of tail. Details of length/weight relationships are available from EA, SANA etc
• For photography - stand in the water - gently cradle the fish using both hands - and just lift the fish above the water surface for a few seconds
• Support the fish gently and steadily in a current, facing upstream. Do not hold the fish too firmly
• Be patient, and wait for the fish to recover
• Let it swim away on its own when it is ready

Will the fish live?

• Radio tracking of released fish has shown that over 80% of salmon, if carefully handled, survive to spawn successfully

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John Webb MSc - Field and Research Biologist

John gained a BSc in Marine & Freshwater Biology from London University and an MSc in Aquaculture & Fisheries Management from Stirling University. He has been employed by the AST as their Field & Research Biologist since 1986 and is based at the Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen. He is a keen angler and has fished in Ireland, Canada and Russia.

As well as being involved with many related fishery bodies, John has worked on a number of different rivers in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK and has published many scientific papers and reports on his work with the Trust. He has been invited to speak and participate in conferences, workshops and meetings in the UK as well as Ireland, Norway, Denmark and Spain.

Since joining the Trust, John has conducted research on a wide range of topics including studies on the migratory and spawning behaviour of adult salmon in rivers and streams, The movement and spawning behaviour of escaped adult Atlantic salmon in Scottish rivers, identification of farmed escapes in coastal salmon-net catches, hybridisation between adult atlantic salmon and brown trout, the effect of redd distributions on salmon dispersal, lifetime performance studies in salmon, catch and release and the survival and behaviour of spring run salmon. He has recently contributed to a major EU-sponsored project on salmon genetics – SALGEN.

John's wide range of experience in fisheries management in both rivers and lochs includes the operation and supervision of permanent interceptory traps on the Girnock and Baddoch Burns, Deeside (since 1986); radiotagging and tracking of adult Atlantic salmon; catch and release training; river and upland stream management/enhancement techniques; underwater and "in air" video/photographic techniques and much more.

John can be contacted through: Fisheries Research Services PO Box 101 Victoria Road Torry Aberdeen AB11 9DB Tel: 01224 876544 Fax: 01224 295413 E.mail: J.Webb@marlab.ac.uk

John Webb recording a hen salmon on the Baddoch Burn

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