Skip to content

Forthcoming evening meeting: Wild salmon and the rivers of Wester Ross

Posted: Wednesday 12 April, 2017 @ 02:38:54

Inspecting the catch, by River Runie Headwaters, August 2016. What was in the bucket?

Tuesday 25th April, 7pm

Poolewe Village Hall, Mary Buchanan Room

This informal evening meeting is intended for anyone interested in the ecology of wild salmon within the Wester Ross area, including anglers, those involved with managing fisheries, and anyone else with an interest in wild salmon and the wild rivers that they inhabit.

Peter Cunningham will describe some of the rivers where salmon are found within the area, say a bit about their transnational travels after they head for the sea, and mention a bit about some of the bigger and more notable fish that have returned to local waters.  His talk will then focus mainly on juvenile salmon (fry and parr) and the nursery streams where they live, and include a summary of the results of monitoring carried out by the Wester Ross Fisheries Trust (now the Skye and Wester Ross Fisheries Trust) during 2016.

Many factors can affect the growth and production of juvenile salmon in our local streams: how much do we know about them?

Ben Rushbrooke will talk about salmon in the little Tournaig system where he’s been looking after fish traps as part of a long-term monitoring project. The Tournaig project has been running since 1999 and much has been learned including how the number of wild salmon smolts that head for the sea during the springtime varies from year to year. Following the loss of a wild salmon population at Tournaig in 2004, what happened in subsequent years? 

We’ll then consider some of the actions that can be taken to support wild salmon populations within local waters.  What and where are the best opportunities for supporting and strenthening wild salmon populations?

We’ll also be looking for anyone who would like to volunteer to help with our field work over the coming field season . . . ?

Everyone welcome. If you would like to come along, please email Peter Cunningham at info@wrft.org.uk beforehand so that we have some idea of how many people to expect.

Thankyou to everyone who supported our work in 2016!