River Carron

[D-Loop]

The way ahead for Scottish West Coast salmon rivers...?

www.theherald.co.uk/news/76482.html

[fishingd0]

Bob Kindness has done a very good job of helping revive the Carron stocks.

It is amazing to think it was all done in his back garden, taking fish from the river and transporting them in a bin to his home made hatchery. Low cost, High return.

It goes to show that hatcheries do have an important part to play in our rivers. Even on rivers that have a healthy spawing stocks, a hatchery acts as a good insurance policy when things in nature go agains the fish spawning, i.e. high water.

[D-Loop]

It would be interesting to know how close the fish farm is to the mouth of the river.

Also, if any escapees have been caught by rods in the Carron this year as was the case with the river Leven.

[williegunn]

fishingd0 said:

It goes to show that hatcheries do have an important part to play in our rivers.

But do they? I understand that some research coming out early next year suggests that Hatcheries can cause serious problems to the genetics of the river stock.

I am not suggesting that the Carron hatchery was not needed, as the situation was so desperate that a hatchery was probably the only way to go.

[storlaks]

I think the upturn on the Lochy has proved that hatcheries are key to aiding the recovery of west coast river systems, especially those who had reached all time lows. That said it is also important that these river systems work with and not against the fish farms. On the Lochy system this has proved a success, so far. Hopefully now with the stopping of the Irish Drfit nets this will also help the situation on the west. Time will tell!

[Fruin]

I believe that hatcheries do have a place in river management. However, as with, catch and release, they are often put in place at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons, and too much hope is pinned on them. There is no point in throwing more soldiers at the front line if your tactics are all wrong.
If a systems stock is severely depleted, to the point that it would take decades to recover, then a hatchery has a place to expedite that process.
If the stock is below what it should be but is sustainable with assistance, other avenues, such as improving and extending spawning habitat, should be explored ahead of hatcheries.
I also think that too many hatchery schemes have been implemented without a proper strategy being drawn up beforehand. I do accept that hindsight is a wonderful tool.
Too many sytems pin all their hopes on a hatchery. The successful hatcheries and the ones where they are only part of a large toolset used to improve the stock.

[betanut]

Couldn't agree with you more there Fruin Whilst I am a stong advocate of hatchery programmes there's absolutely no point if other parts of the 'cycle' aren't managed 'correctly'.

Storlaks - I don't believe it's just the hatchery which has made a difference on the Lochy. More to it than that although doubtless the hatchery Roger started (more years ago than I care to remember now - where did those 15+ years go ) has made a difference, the dealings with Scottish Hydro over compensation water, the habitat improvement we undertook and the fact that even back in 'my day' C&R was commonplace among many of the rods fishing the beats must have gone some way to seeing an improvement.
The migratory fish (well, salmon as there's bugger all sea trout left to warrant a mention ) did well to recover from that fateful day when we lost all the compensation water from the Hydro plant and the river dropped feet in minutes. Sadly, despite the efforts of all on the water that day, thousands of fish of all sizes were lost as the waters rapidly dimished to nothingness That was in '93, so it would have taken the river a while to recover. I haven't seen the figures, but I'd estimate the Lochy started to show an improvement around '01?

Sorry folks - got a wee bit sidetracked there the Lochy has a very special place in my heart, caught my first salmon on the fly there as a paying guest and latterly have many happy memories of my 'time' there as a Ghillie

[storlaks]

Of course it's not just the hatchery that has restored the Lochy. There is a proper river management process in place and it's well run.....what from I've seen. Extensive Habitat improvement and expansion, stocking, working with fish farms are all part of the plan.......but without the continuation and indeed large expansion of the hatchery I doubt things would have turned round so quickly.

I guess it's always easier to manage things more effectively when you own the whole river.

It's nice to hear that other West coast salmon rivers are making a come back. Wish the Doon was in that catagory!!