To see BBC report click link below
Rare fish set for return to River Severn breeding grounds – BBC News
Category: Fish News
Salmon farming on land
Good news for wild salmon?
The salmon you buy in the future may be farmed on land – BBC News
Sewage discharged into rivers 400,000 times in 2020
The South West has the fourth highest incidence of raw sewage discharged into rivers according to this BBC report.
Sewage discharged into rivers 400,000 times in 2020 – BBC News
Moray Firth smolt tracking project
“Somewhere on their journey, wild salmon numbers are being decimated. For every 100 salmon that leave our rivers for the sea, less than five return – a decline of nearly 70% in just 25 years.” – AST
We have known for some time that salmon are facing big problems at sea and indeed they could become an endangered species in our lifetime. In order to quantify these impacts on the salmon population the Atlantic Salmon Trust have a project underway to tack smolts from rivers that open to the Moray Firth. 20% of salmon leaving UK rivers do so by this route. The insights gained should be transferable to other salmon populations around the UK.
If you wish to learn more and follow the progress of project there is more information on the Atlantic Salmon Trust’s website and in the project booklet.
Clean river targets unlikely to be met
The following is a link to a BBC news article prompted by the WWF charity’s warning that our rivers are being “used as open sewers”. At present, it states, only 21% of south west rivers reach ‘good’ environmental standards. We seem to be rather more fortunate than the Thames area, where the figure is 3%. However, we do have the highest rates of pollution incidents here in the south west.
Salmon woes on the Tweed
Readers may be interested in this interesting and heartfelt editorial concerning the state of salmon stocks on the Tweed that aims to put in context efforts to improve the situation and has relevance to all salmon rivers.
Beavers
As the beaver reintroduction is happening on a neighbouring river (The Otter) Dart anglers may be interested in the following.
Firstly, here is a recent report on the reintroduction from the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-40048762
There is no mention of how beavers might affect fish migration so here is a policy statement from the Angling Trust regarding beaver reintroduction that covers that aspect among others.
First salmon of the UK season
Not massively relevant to us, but nevertheless good to see. This 23lb sea liced springer – believed to be the first of the UK season – was caught and released on the 17th on the Lower Garry in Scotland
Micro-plastics adversely affecting fish
“Young fish become hooked on eating plastic in the seas in the same way that teenagers prefer unhealthy fast food, Swedish researchers have said.”
Read more:
Fish to be killed to discourage angling
It is unclear from the article whether there is any evidence of harm to wildlife in this case or if it is a perceived danger.