Celtic Sea Trout Programme

AN INTRODUCTION FOR ANGLER PARTICIPANTS

1. Aim of this note

To inform fishermen of the Celtic Sea Trout Programme (CSTP) and to ask for their help in carrying it out.

2. What is the CSTP?

The programme is a collaborative effort across fishermen, conservation and regulating bodies, universities, government agencies, Trusts and clubs in Ireland, Wales, England and Scotland. The programme is seeking funding through INTERREG IV, an EU funding mechanism, and the work is focussed on the needs of the Ireland-Wales axis. Lead agencies in the bid are the Central Fisheries Board (Ireland) and Bangor University (Wales, and the overall lead partner).

3. Aims of the programme

The Celtic Sea Trout Programme aims are:

• To understand and describe sea trout stocks in the Irish Sea and thereby to enhance sea trout fisheries and strengthen their contributions to quality of life, to rural economies and to national biodiversity.
• To explore the use of sea trout life history variation as a tool to detect and understand the effects of climate change.

4. Background

The sea trout is the sea migratory form of the brown trout and is a popular target of rod and net fisheries of rivers and coastal waters around the Irish Sea. Adult sea trout lay their eggs in river gravels, the young stages live for 1 to 3 years in freshwater before emigrating (as smolts) to sea where they feed hard and return after varying periods as mature adults, homing to the rivers of their birth to repeat the cycle. Thus the sea trout life cycle requires good environmental quality in freshwater, estuaries and at sea. Moreover, current understanding suggests that the incidence of sea trout and the composition and status of their stocks is sensitive to changes in the environments in which they live. These life history features and the sea trout’s widespread occurrence, makes it a unique and potentially sensitive indicator of environmental change.

However, there are major unanswered questions in the understanding of sea trout, namely:

• where do they go at sea and how are their stocks structured and interlinked?
• what is their marine ecology (feeding, growth, survival and life history variation)?
• what environmental and other pressures are they exposed to?
• how do their life histories (and thus fishery quality) respond to environmental variation?

Sea trout fisheries in parts of Western Britain, including the Irish Sea, are suffering decline; but the pattern is mixed and in most cases the causes of change and thus the solutions are poorly understood. So we need answers to the question outlined above

The CSTP intends to provide this missing knowledge and to translate it into fishery and conservation benefits for countries bordering the Irish Sea.

5. The programme content

In summary the programme involves collection of sea trout samples from 80 rivers (of which 20 have been targeted for the detailed sampling for which we are seeking help here), estuaries, coastal waters and further offshore, over three years. The samples will be mostly of fin clips and scales accompanied by accurate size information; but whole fish will also be taken to examine feeding and other aspects of biology.

The samples will be processed to describe stock structures and distributions (using micro-chemistry and genetics), life histories, growth and survival (from scale analysis) and feeding. From these data and reviews of the fisheries and freshwater trout production a picture will be assembled of the quality and quantity of sea trout stocks and fisheries around the Irish Sea. Various modelling approaches will be used to pull this information together to show the interactions between stocks, fisheries and the environment at sea and in freshwater, and thus to help to explore management options.

6. What help is required

Collecting fish, scales and size data from 20 rivers in sufficient numbers (300+ per river over two years) and, importantly, in a scientifically unbiased way is a tall order. The CSTP proposal includes a sampling programme by the participating agencies. However, it also crucially needs the participation and help of fishermen, mainly anglers fishing in rivers, but also netsmen in specific areas. We need fishermen to collect scales and take length measurements from sea trout that they catch, systematically, i.e. as far as possible from all fish sizes and spread throughout the angling season. The fish do not need to be killed; scales can be taken harmlessly from fish and with care fish can be measured safely and accurately. In principle this is straightforward, but there are some significant points to note.

• The data collected MUST be reliable.
• The lengths need to be accurate and measured in the same way by different people.
• Scales need to be taken from the same location on the fishes’ flanks (see guidance sheet) and no cross contamination of scales must occur
• Many sea trout are taken at night and many are to be returned alive and safe to the water. This brings some practical problems which are surmountable, but at some (small) cost to fishing time.
• From the above it can be seen that the best way to achieve the programme’s aims will be to secure the help from individuals or small groups of anglers who are willing to be committed and prepared to take the samples in the required way.

Detailed procedures and equipment (very simple!) will be made available and a small element of training or discussion with the programme organisers will be needed to ensure that data and information quality are consistently high. Advice and practical support will be given throughout to any individuals or groups. This note is to prompt interest, feedback and offers of participation from anglers, clubs, syndicates or individuals.

7. What you get

Full feedback of the analyses of any samples you provide. Regular updates of the overall programme. Satisfaction at having made a personal, practical contribution towards improving sea trout understanding and fisheries for yourself, others and future generations.

As recommendations get taken up in due course: improved, better protected and managed sea trout fisheries.

8. Provisional Timetable

Start of programme: May 2009

End of sampling programme: October 2011.

End of CSTP: April 2012

9. Contacts

The overall CSTP sampling Coordinator is Dr Paddy Gargan, Central Fisheries Board (tel: 0876468611).

Local CSTP contacts for particular rivers are shown on the attached sheet. These people will be available to help in advice, equipment and training and to give talks or ad hoc assistance to groups or individuals as required.

CSTP contacts on rivers for detailed sampling.