Fisheries Blog

THE team of fisheries scientists, who have been tagging salmon and trout smolts on the River Frome, were interviewed by the media on Monday 11th September.

The low number of juvenile salmon (called smolts) leaving the River Frome in Dorset for their feeding grounds in the North Atlantic in the spring of 2017 (called the smolt run) quantified by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust in collaboration with Cefas and the Environment Agency is likely to result in a decline in the numbers of adult salmon returning to our rivers in the next few years.

On the 20^th and 21^st of June 2017 the GWCT fisheries scientists met with some 25 staff from the 9 other SAMARCH partners in Rennes, France for the first project steering group meeting.

The GWCT is proud to be the lead partner on a major EU-funded programme that will provide vital research on rapidly declining salmon and sea trout (salmonid) populations in the Channel area.

Find out more about the adult salmon that are returning to sea after successfully spawning.

Some of the salmon we tagged in 2014 and 2015 have returned to the River Frome... 

Last month saw a very impressive specimen pass through our counter on the River Frome at East Stoke in Dorset. Watch this short video clip below to find out what it was...

Our counter on the River Frome at East Stoke, Dorset, uses electrodes to monitor the electrical resistance of the water. When a (less resistive) fish or object large enough to bridge the electrodes passes over them, the system saves a video clip for later analysis. Here are some of the highlights showing the biggest sightings of last year.

Why some trout migrate out to sea and why some stay in their natal river has fascinated fishermen, but now a new study is providing some answers. Jill Goodwin explains.

The GWCT Fisheries team have just published their 2015 report and you can download it today.