the don district salmon fishery board

THE DON DISTRICT SALMON FISHERY BOARD
Superintendents Annual Report For
The Year 2010
A scenic view of Poldullie Bridge on the Tornashean fishing’s at Strathdon.
DON DISTRICT SALMON FISHERY BOARD
SUPERINTENDENTS ANNUAL REPORT
FOR THE YEAR 2010
SUMMARY OF FISH STOCKS, ANGLING, SPAWNING, HABITAT
AND HATCHERY
SUPERINTENDENT
Jim Kerr
17 Norman Gray Park, Blackburn, Aberdeen, AB21 0ZR
Tel: 01224 790005
Mob: 07836645510
DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT
Martin Webster
Tel: 01467 633309
Mob: 07836645509
SENIOR BAILIFF
Steven Murphy
Mob: 07518339595
BAILIFF
David McKay
MILL OF NEWE SALMON HATCHERY
Tel: 01975 651488
AUXILIARY BAILIFF
M Beadie, Aberdeen
HONORARY BAILIFFS
D, Mackie, Littlewood Estate
N, James, Burnhervie, Inverurie
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STATE OF RIVER
The start of 2010 saw the river Don Valley covered in a blanket of snow. The first flood
of 2010 was on the 17th of January, the result of a very large snowmelt, where the river
reached a height of 7ft above normal flows. High flows continued right through until the
end of April.
From May until the middle of July, river levels were more settled with only small
increases in river flows.
There was an increase in river flows on the 22nd of July and again on the 13th of August,
which gave the angler good sport over the summer months.
As the summer left and autumn arrived, so did the bad weather. The wet weather did not
improve from the previous month and heavy rainfall was simultaneously throwing the
river into flood conditions through November.
December was a bitter month with arctic conditions at the beginning of the month. The
whole river was covered in a thick blanket of snow, but this was not to last as a warm
front moved over the Northeast which put the river into full flood conditions. The river
reached a height of 8ft, the second largest flood of the year. This level of water did not
subside quickly as persistent winter conditions kept the levels on a high for the remainder
of December. The Graph below shows the River levels for 2010
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Fish in River and Angling
As with every January there were plenty of kelts splashing around in the pools from
Alford down to the lower reaches of the river system. It was very hard to establish the
numbers of spring fish which had entered the river, simply due to the amount of water
that was in the river due to melting snow.
The month of February was certainly a trying time for anglers, as the new season got
under way. Every type of winter condition was thrown at them from sleet to snow and
hard frost, and also Ice flows were moving down stream from the upper reaches of the
system. Never the less the first spring salmon was landed at Inverurie before 9am, a nice
6lb fish which was landed by the same local angler who got the first fish last year. As the
opening day moved on there was a report of one fish landed at Stoneywood paper mill
and two other fish, 1 on the Upper park hill stretch and 1 on the Lower Parkhill Beat on
the ADAA fishing’s. Considering the river conditions it was a good start for the first day
of the season. By the end of February only12 spring salmon had been landed, there were
few anglers on the river due to the poor weather and river conditions.
The late Mr Robert Dempster, Gillie to Grandhome Estate
On the opening day of the angling salmon season there was a private ceremony held for
the late Gillie Mr Robert Demster, who had died at the end of last year. Bob had been
employed by Grandhome estate for the past 20 years as the Estate Gillie. He was a well
known figure who will be missed by many. A salmon pool has been renamed in his
honour. Demster pool is in the top beat of the Grandhome fishing’s on the North bank of
the river. There was an excellent turn out for the event with representatives from the
Board, many angling friends, family members and close friends. At the riverside a piper
played the pipes and Mr David Paton, Laird of the estate said some nice words on how
dedicated Mr Dempster had been to his work on the Grandhome beat. Mrs Dempster and
Mr Paton then toasted the new pool with some good Malt whiskey, followed by the new
gillie Mr Paul Hans taking the first cast in the newly named pool.
River Don March
In February on the first Saturday after the official opening of the salmon season, we held
the annual Don March. This event has been happening now for quite some time and is
very popular with the local community of Inverurie and surrounding districts. The event
is organised by the Inverurie Angling Association. There was a good turn out with
members of the Don Board, Don Trust and local anglers from Inverurie and Kintore. The
march started at the Kintore arms where a piper led the way to the river. Once at the river
retired council member Raymond Bisset recited a poem and the Rev Mr Graeme
Longmuir toasted the river and ourselves with a small dram of good whiskey, and wished
all who fish the Don a good season.
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As March moved in the river temperature started to increase and river flows were good.
Salmon were being landed in steady numbers from Kemnay down to the lower reaches,
this continued on most beats right through until the end of May.
The spring months quickly passed, on reflection looking back through my monthly
reports, the spring fishing was excellent. The catch and release policy was being adhered
to with the majority of anglers having no problems returning their catch. Also noticeable
on the river this year was the big influx of anglers using the fly rod rather than a spinning
rod.
The sea trout again this year did not disappoint and it seems to be getting stronger each
year. Many beats on the river had record catches of seat trout this year. The sea trout were
all of good size averaging 3lb in weight and in excellent condition.
Again this year the bulk of the Grilse run was late which seems to be the trend all over
Scotland. Small pockets of Grilse were moving through the system in July and the early
part of August. But the big push of Grilse arrived on the coast during the 3rd week of that
month where good numbers were being landed right through to the 1st week of October.
During the month of September good numbers of large summer salmon were evident on
many beats on the river, they were ranging in size from 12lb to the larger size of 20lb
plus fish.
By the second week of October the river temperature took a sudden down turn, river
levels started to fall back and salmon catches were starting to drop as many of the salmon
pools were filling up with salmon in their spawning dress, which suddenly went off the
take. It was not until an increase in river flows on the 22nd that got the salmon moving
through the river system and back on the take once more. Anglers all over the system
have commented on the excellent season on the river and I suspect one to be
remembered.
The high river flows in November-December gave good access to the streams in the
upper catchment for spawning fish stocks to migrate through. At the Newe weir on the
top stretches of the river system, good numbers arrived at the weir and continued through
the fish pass to the very top reaches. By the third week of November early Kelts were
already moving down the system as we were intercepting them whilst floy tagging
salmon at the weir for research purposes, these fish had been early spring salmon that had
already spawned. December on the river was very bitter with arctic conditions; never the
less autumn fish were seen cutting Redds at the bottom of the Urie and on the Monymusk
waters. As the year came to a close the upper reaches of the river was starting to freeze
over at -15 and the river was covered in a blanket of snow as she was at the beginning of
2010.
SUMMARY OF COASTAL FISHING
The coastal fishing did not do as good as the river in catches of migratory fish, again with
the bad weather on the coast and the influx in river levels pushing fresh water out into the
Aberdeen bay, I think salmon were just homing in on this and headed into their river of
origin. On many weeks nets were not set up on the beach due to weather conditions and
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other times poles were smashed by the waves. They did manage to land a few fish during
the season, but not in any great numbers.
.GYRODACTYLUS SALARIS
G.S is still a very big threat to all UK Rivers. River proprietors are urged to inform river
users of the dangers of G.S entering the river system which if allowed to do so would be
devastating to all fish stocks. All anglers and water enthusiasts are urged to disinfect all
equipment before entering the river, if they have been using the same equipment outside
the UK. If any angler or water enthusiasts has any questions about GS please don’t
hesitate to enquire for information. Can I also ask all proprietors to ask their anglers to fill
out the declaration form before going to the river, if you don’t have any please get in
touch either with the salmon Fishery board or the River Don trust and copy will be passed
on to you. If any angler wants their tackle sterilized with disinfectant or any boating
equipment please phone the numbers below, where arrangements can be made. Thank
you.
The Don District salmon fishery Board
Email kerr-james@btconnect.com
Tele: 01224-790005 Mobile: 07836645510
River Don Trust:
Email: jamie.urquart@abdn.ac.uk
Tele: 01330-830080 Mobile: 07860846999
River Don Trust Projects in Conjunction with the DDSFB
SALMON IN THE CLASSROOM
This year the program was organised by the River Don Trust as education is a very
important part of the trust remit. There were 5 primary schools involved this year:
Monymusk, Craigievar, Lumsden, Towie and Glenkindie primary school. Three of the
schools had never done this project in the past which made it all the more exciting for the
children, not knowing what to expect. Jamie the trust Biologist and I went round the
schools where Jamie gave the introduction of the project to the children after which the
eggs were introduced in to the aquarium which the trust had provided to all the schools.
The schools were visited weekly to make sure all was going well and it was clear how
much enjoyment the children were getting from the project. When it became time to
release the young salmon back into the river, each school were taken to the nearest
stream, each child received a poly bag with some salmon in it to release. STV came to
Lumsden School and filmed the event, which gave the project a massive boost.
BROWN TROUT IN THE CLASSROOM
The Inverurie angling association kicked off the school projects this year with Brown
trout in the classroom, where trout eggs were introduced into Strathburn primary school,
in the month of February. Dr Sam Martin who is on the committee of the IAA (Inverurie
Angling Association) gave the young children an introduction to the project; before the
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eggs were put into the aquarium supplied by the IAA. The picture below shows Mr Sam
Martin on the left and me on the right, along with some of the pupils and the aquarium in
the background. The press cutting was from the local Inverurie Advertiser.
In May it was time to release the young trout back into the river, in attendance on the day
were Peter Dow chair of the Inverurie angling association who sponsor this project and
Doctor Sam Martin, Don Trust Director and member of the Association, lots of parents
also attended and two photographers from local papers. The release site was below the
Inverurie main road bridge and it was a lovely sunny morning. This is always a great
local event and everything went well, all the children enjoyed themselves and after the
release the children were presented with a certificate of achievement award.
Stock Surveys
Over the past year the Board staff has been working closely with the Trust and volunteers
to try and cover as much of the river system as possible, to establish what species of fish
stock there are by way of electro fishing on tributaries over the river system. This will
continue into the following year until the whole river has been completed. The map
below shows the entire river system, the black dots on the map represent electro fishing
survey sites that were completed during 2010
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Habitat Surveys
This is another project that was carried out this year by staff and the Trust. It is very time
consuming and weather dependent. The trust and board must establish to what extent
habitat has degraded over the river and how this can be improved for future stocks of all
species of fish on the river. This project will also be running next year.
Invasive Species
Invasive species on the river are wide ranging, here is a small sample of projects which
the board-trust have been involved in during the past year.
American signal Cray fish is just one of many invasive species the trust are looking at,
Jamie the Trust biologist completed a course on this subject earlier this year. Below is
one of our staff members planting out a Cray fish trap to establish any signs of these in
the system. The good news is that nothing was found in any of the traps set out over the
river
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American Mink
This project is being funded by SNH (Scottish Natural Heritage) and now has funding for
a further two years; the mink control officer will be based at the Trust-Board staff office
at Cluny. Last year the Board and trust were assisting the project checking mink rafts
when possible and reporting back to the control officer if any mink prints were found on
the soft clay inside the rafts, when prints are found a trap is set. The picture below on the
left shows mink prints on the clay, the picture on the right is the Mink raft which is
anchored to the bank.
River
Restocking
Program for
2010
The stocking of Sea trout and Salmon fed on fry commenced on 2nd of June and continued
until the 28th of the month, this program would have been completed at an earlier time,
but with increased river level in the middle of that month some salmon were held back
until more appropriate conditions were favourable for restocking. A total of 408,000
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salmon fry and 6,000 sea trout were stocked, location, maps and quantities in each site
are as follows with grid references at each site.
Tornahaish Burn 6,000 sea trout fry - Grid reference NJ 29542 08410 to NJ 29512 08690
Meoir Veannaich 12,000 spring salmon fry - Grid reference NJ 21852 08225 to
JN 22211 08825
Cock Bridge 30,000 spring salmon fry – Grid reference NJ 25337 09165 to
NJ 26237 09385
Luib Bridge below 20,000 spring salmon fry – Grid reference NJ 26547 08730 to
NJ 26582 08555
Cemetery at Burn side below Corgarff 25,000 spring salmon fry – Grid reference
NJ 28147 08215 to NJ 28642 08385
Above & below cross roads going towards the Military road, 25,000 spring salmon
fry – Grid reference NJ 29142 08520 to NJ 26927 08775
Garchory 49,000 summer salmon fry – Grid reference NJ 30447 09650 to
NJ 31137 10155
Belniden 30,000 summer salmon fry – Grid reference NJ 31687 10365 to
NJ 32232 10640
Lonach hill 57,000 summer salmon fry – Grid reference NJ 32272 10185 to
NJ 32657 09840
Culfork 29,000 summer salmon fry – Grid reference NJ 32777 09905 to NJ 33002 10530
Ernan Burn 26,000nGrilse salmon fry - Grid reference NJ 32877 11710 to
NJ 33107 11295
Candacraig Ford 26,000 summer salmon fry – Grid reference NJ 34262 10780 to
NJ 34742 10945
Tornashean site 1, 12,000 summer salmon fry – Grid reference 35122 12215 to
NJ 35082 12320
Nochty Burn 25,000 Grilse salmon fry - Grid reference NJ 34702 13715 to NJ 35022
13435
Bellabeg 28,000 Grilse salmon fry - Grid reference NJ 35222 12735 to NJ 35713 12850
Stocking Maps below.
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Hatchery Brood Stock for 2010
Collection of brood stock commenced on the 20th of October, in a very short time we had
processed over 250 salmon, where scale samples were taken from certain fish and then
they were released over the Newe weir at Strathdon, to complete their journey to the
spawning beds above. We have retained 30 hens and 30 cock fish for the hatchery this
year. The 30 hens fish retained gave us 311,500 ova for the hatchery stock this year; we
are also holding 36,000 sea trout ova.
The hatchery has come through one of the worst winters for many years with no adverse
affect, due to constant monitoring through the winters months by the board staff. If
weather conditions warm up in early February and river levels settle I will be able to
plant these ova into artificial Redds in the upper catchment, where they will then hatch
out in their own environment.
Annual Redd Count
Due to unsuitable weather and river conditions we have been unable to commence a Redd
count this year.
New Staff Member
We have a new member of staff who will be on the river working alongside Martin, who
will mentor him for the first 6 months. He will then join Stephen on the lower beats of the
river. His name is David McKay, he is a keen angler and conservationist he will also be
assisting Jamie the Trust biologist with his various projects.
Acknowledgments
I would just like to thank Mr Alistair Wallace chair to the Board, Mr George Alpine clerk
to the Board, my staff and Jamie for all their dedicated work over the past year, this also
goes out to all proprietors, anglers ,Trust directors and the JMG for all their hard work
that goes on behind the scenes.
James Kerr
River Superintendent
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