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TRUST UPDATE
The RFFT has become ever busier in recent months, with catchment restoration projects, barrier easements, coordinated invasive weed control, education projects and surveys of fish communities and habitats all on the go. Our understanding of the issues affecting the rivers of the Forth District has never been more comprehensive.
Our watchword is ‘community involvement’. By enabling volunteers to undergo accredited training, and by coordinating useful and practical activities, we effectively increase our work capabilities from that of three staff to over 100. Everyone seems to benefit greatly from this arrangement. Whether it is school children taking part in a class project, anglers electrofishing, volunteers spraying invasive weeds or members of the public taking part in bankside demonstrations, there is an enormous sense of accomplishment gained.
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Volunteers helping to electrofish on the Murieston Water
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Our Fish in the Classroom project has just come to an end, with 14 schools taking part. This year, for the first time, every single school had the additional support of a local environmental group. This has proved to be extremely popular, especially during the field visits to the local burn, with parents, anglers, volunteers and professionals all coming along and joining in with kick sampling and riverside talks (and crowd control!).
After a long period of planning and partnership working with RAFTS, SEPA and other organizations, we are hopefully on the brink of improving fish passage at three man made weirs in the District. Again, we have really benefitted from the involvement of local groups in this process, particularly with regard to identifying problem areas, collating historical information and generating up to date baseline fisheries data.
We are always looking for ways to maximise the benefits of our activities to the aquatic environment and to communities and are open to ideas and communications that can be made through our website. Read on to see what we are currently involved with and in the meantime, we extend our sincere thanks to all the volunteers who make what we do possible.
Electrofishing surveys
Our 2013 electrofishing season saw an in-depth electrofishing survey carried out on the River Tyne in East Lothian, with the help of the East Lothian Angling Association. We found the distribution of juvenile trout and salmon to be quite patchy in this catchment, and salmon do not seem to penetrate very high into the upper catchment. This is partly due to the presence of a series of weirs on the main channel that are partial barriers to fish migration, but there are other limiting factors as well. One major tributary that used to be regarded as an excellent sea trout spawning burn seems to have been decimated by excessive sedimentation following the post war intensification of agriculture. We have developed a project plan to try and tackle these issues and improve spawning in the tributary (more information can be found in the River Tyne report on our website).
In the coming season, our priorities for electrofishing will include the Rivers Almond, Carron and Leven. The Almond has multiple issues affecting fish health and success, including large weirs and sewage inputs. The Carron is shortly to have a fish pass installed on Fankerton Weir as part of a hydro scheme, which will open up miles of beautiful fish habitat. Over in the Leven, we are going to be surveying the tributaries of the Loch as well as sites downstream of the loch to map the distribution of fish species and the penetration of migratory fish into the catchment.
As usual, we have received lots of help from volunteers in different parts of the District, to complete all our electrofishing surveys. Everyone seems to really enjoy this activity, and it is a great way for anglers and conservationists to get a picture of what is going on in their local river. We already have a long list of volunteers keen to get involved this summer, and have recently obtained some funding to send volunteers on accredited training. If you would like to volunteer with the Trust please get in touch.
FINNS Programme
Our Invasive Non Native Species Programme (FINNS) kicked off in Spring 2013 with a very successful season of coordinated INNS management. 252km of river bank was treated while a further 222km was identified for management in the coming season. One of the most satisfying aspects of the work so far has been the enthusiastic contribution of volunteers who have been involved in spraying and stem injecting in their local areas and, further afield as well. Many volunteers were involved last year, with 45 completing accredited training. There is a waiting list for 2014 training, and more people are joining in all the time. The 2013 season saw particularly good results for mapping and treating Japanese knotweed on the Rivers Avon and Almond.
Inroads have also been made with some other invasive species. Mink, signal crayfish and bullhead have been mapped and surveyed in many areas. Of these 3, only mink are currently possible to control, and we are working with volunteers in some target areas to get the ball rolling and bring mink numbers down in the District. A more detailed update will be given at the end of May when the FINNS Spring Newsletter will be released.
River Avon Restoration Project
Over the last few years, the Slamannan Angling and Protective Association (SAPA) has gradually been improving sections of the upper River Avon main stem. Years of dredging, gravel removal and straightening have turned the upper reaches of a once excellent salmon river into a sluggish canal dominated by soft sediments. The addition of boulder pinch points and gravel shoals has gone some way towards providing more suitable habitat for salmonids.
Recently, SAPA were joined by RFFT, SEPA and the River Avon Federation in making a successful application to the Water Environment Fund to add to this work and carry out a catchment-scale scoping study aiming to identify the most beneficial options for future river restoration. The study is now complete and it is hoped the options will be put in place in the near future, but of course stakeholder support is of paramount importance to any restoration works and little can be achieved without the agreement of land-users. The report from the scoping study can be found on our website.
Out of these upper Avon discussions has sprung a new project focussing on the Bog Burn which is a tributary entering the Avon mid-catchment. There are severe water quality issues needing addressed here. Urban pollution, arable run-off and sewage effluents all affect the burn. Add to this the presence of an impassable weir near the confluence with the main stem, and the fish community doesn’t stand much of a chance. On the bright side though, salmon parr have been found downstream of the weir, so with a little help, there is potential for salmon to return to this subcatchment.
Weirs
Since the Autumn, we have been working with RAFTS (River and Fisheries Trusts of Scotland) to identify weirs in the Forth District that are likely to be seen as a priority for funding from SEPA’s Water Environment Fund (WEF). Weirs that are a complete barrier to fish migration and prevent fish from accessing long stretches of good habitat upstream are viewed as a priority for a fish pass or even complete removal. Weirs on the Bannockburn and River Avon have been put forward for the next round of WEF funding in May. If successful, the weirs could potentially be made passable in the forseeable future and this would represent a big win for migratory fish in the District . Other barriers on the Allan Water and River Teith are being considered for subsequent funding rounds.
We are very lucky in the Forth District because although many of our rivers are badly affected by the presence of old industrial weirs, SEPA and RAFTS are already working on two of the worst affected rivers—the Tyne and Almond. Extensive scoping and survey works are well under way and there are many important factors and impacts to consider.
Another weir in the Forth District has received funding for improvement works. Dollar Weir on the River Devon is currently only partly passable to salmon and sea trout, but it will shortly be improved for fish passage, and this will help to open up miles of excellent salmonid habitat. We are currently determining the best and most cost effective way that this can be achieved.
Fish in the classroom
This winter we ran our Fish in the Classroom project in 14 Primary Schools from Livingston to Clackmannanshire. We had more community involvement than ever before with at least one, and often two community groups helping each school with field visits and with funding. From helping classes cross the road to kick sampling and identifying invertebrates, many volunteers took part and seemed to enjoy the activities just as much as the children. Thanks are due to Murieston Environment Group, Slamannan Angling and Protective Association, CATCA, Larbert and Stenhouse Angling Club, Ochils Landscape Partnership and Westquarter Wildlife Group for all their help and support.
Some schools have been involved with the project for a number of years now and have got trout fry rearing down to a fine art. Alva and Laurieston Primary Schools achieved excellent survival rates of nigh on 100%. Meanwhile on the River Carron, members of the Larbert and Stenhouse Angling Club kick sampled for invertebrates and turned up sticklebacks, minnows, stoneloach, trout and even a salmon fingerling much to the delight of children and adults alike.
We find that projects like these instill in children a sense of ownership of their local river and it all contributes to a future generation with good environmental awareness. We are keen to develop the our education project to improve continuity and contact from Primary through to Secondary School age, and are currently looking for ways to achieve this in the future.
DATES FOR THE DIARY 2014
24th May—Dunblane Fling. We will be present in the Allan Water marquee along with some of our favourite aquatic friends . See website for more information on this family day of music and culture http://www.dunblanefling.com/
8th june—Loch Leven Discovery Day. We will be at the Loch Leven NNR Discovery Day promoting the Trust and INNS, come along and visit us on the day.
21st June—Westquarter Wildlife Day. Westquarter Wildlife Group are organizing a free family fun day in Westquarter Glen. We will be there giving electrofishing demonstrations in the burn
5th-6th July—Loch Leven bioblitz. Loch Leven NNR are organizing a bioblitz as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations. We will be electrofishing the tributaries of Loch Leven during this event
Please check out our Website, Facebook and Twitter for more events
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