Recently I attended the annual general meeting of the Ness DSFB held in Inverness.
The Ness DSFB staff do a great job with limited resources, this I knew and whilst there was interesting stuff to discuss it was the guest speaker that swung it for me as a 'must do' so I managed to get a seat for the evening.
The guest speaker was Mark Bilsby, Mark is the Executive Director of the Atlantic Salmon Trust (AST)and his name would likely be familiar to many on this forum as he was formerly the Director of both the River Dee Trust and Dee District Salmon Fisheries Board. I don't know Mark well, but our paths have crossed over the years with different projects and I appreciate his practical no-nonsense approach to presenting facts and information.
Mark was at the Ness event to talk about the Missing Salmon Project, his talk was thought provoking, shocking, informative and has fundamentally shifted some of my thoughts about the issues surrounding the diminishing Salmon stocks of the UK.
It will also see me switch from supporting the Wild Trout Trust (as I have pretty much since its inception) to putting those small monies towards the continued work of the AST. For me, that's a big thing giving up the WTT for something else and trust me, the AST needs it more.
To find out more about what I'm so concerned about you should watch these videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXsDg09-APY42c1zCao4lRx-nYkSTeJ3dMy thoughts are dominated by what I will call the scary part. Statistics.
OK, next to lies comes damned lies and then statistics.... but on the Ness system 91% (yes, 91%) of the smolts tagged in this project did
not make it to sea. Think about that for a minute. That is an astonishing figure, 91% mortality rate
before reaching the sea
The assumption has largely been a marine predation issue has been the root cause, this data suggests we have far bigger problems with freshwater predation.
Finding out why this is happening is part of the next step in the project, which I will be following with trepidation for the future.
Do, please, read the support material on the AST website and watch the videos. Also, look at the piece in the latest edition of Fly Fishing and Fly Tying.
H