Ness District Salmon Fishery Board in bid to boost fish numbers
The first hatchery-reared eggs from the Upper Garry Salmon Restoration Project have been stocked into the river, which feeds into Loch Ness, by the Ness District Salmon Fishery Board.
Wild River Garry salmon smolts were captured as they made the journey downstream and grown to maturity in captivity at the Drimsallie Salmon Hatchery in Lochaber.
Chris Conroy, director of the Ness Board, said: “This is the first time in Scotland that applied genetics has been used to inform fisheries management practices in real-time.
“Historic annual returns of up to 800 adult salmon through the fish counter at Garry Dam have shrunk to an average of 60 fish. This has triggered our multi-partner bid to reverse that trend.
“We’ve been developing this innovative fisheries management project quietly behind the scenes since 2012 and the introduction of the first eggs is a huge step forward.”
Each smolt, when captured, is fitted with a passive integrated transponder which allows each fish to be identified.
Because salmon numbers are so low, the eggs of smolts are being “planted” in the river in a four-year bid to kick-start the salmon population.
“Stocking of eggs will focus on areas of suitable habitat identified by biologists from the Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust,” Mr Conroy said. “We’ve introduced 23,500 eggs across eight sites this year and we’ll be stocking up to 150,000 eggs each year for the next three years.”
When the eggs hatch they will begin feeding in their natural environment – thus avoiding the harmful effects of young fish becoming domesticated in a hatchery.
The ground-breaking genetic analysis and supported breeding project is also being backed by SSE, the Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust, Marine Harvest and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.
Surveys will be undertaken at the stocking sites this summer by the Ness and Beauly Fisheries Trust, allowing an early assessment of the survival rate of the stocked fish.
It will be six years from now that the fish stocked in this year’s project should return as adults and pass through the fish counter.
