Salmon scheme outgrows hatcheries

09 May, 2006 12:00:00 Julian

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Ireland's first 'natural' fish rearing programme is producing young salmon which are over six centimetres longer than their hatchery grown cousins.

Over the past two weeks, the first 1,300 young salmon or smolts from the programme have set out on their traditional migration route through Lough Neagh and out to the Atlantic Ocean. It is hoped that a further 400 will follow shortly.

The scheme, part of the Ballinderry River Enhancement Project, has redeveloped an old mill dam outside Cookstown, Co. Tyrone into a salmon lake where young fish grow up in as close to wild conditions as possible. Unlike those grown in hatcheries, they experience the natural environment. They eat insects and learn to catch their own food, some of which is produced from special underwater mats designed to boost the production of natural food items such as midge, caddis and stonefly.

These fish are coming out of the lake big (on average 19 centimetres), strong and it is hoped well equipped to cope with the real conditions that they will face in Northern Ireland's rivers and further out to the sea.

Alan Keys, Manager of Ballinderry Fish Hatchery Ltd explains, "when our smolts were ready to go to sea they moved towards the downstream end of the lake. A specially constructed grill that had held them in the lake during the winter, was opened, allowing the smolts to be removed and marked each morning and evening. They are being stocked into selected tributaries of the Ballinderry River."

The 'imprint' of the tributary where these young fish are released should stay with them. This imprinting is a natural process which instinctively brings them back to the same tributaries to spawn over the next two years.

Atlantic salmon populations are falling dramatically in our rivers and streams.
There are several causes, however, one principal reason is poor water quality.

This restocking programme is one of the final parts of WWF's Ballinderry River Enhancement Project. The initial stages of the work have been working with the local community to improve the rivers and streams and make them fit for salmon to live in.

"Unfortunately the Atlantic salmon is fast becoming a rare species in our rivers. That's why we felt it was important to find new ways of improving their habitat but also to kick start numbers of indigenous salmon. We were keen to look at this new way of restocking which seems to be producing fitter fish," said Alex McGarel, Freshwater Policy Officer at WWF Northern Ireland.

For more information in the WWF visit: www.wwf.org.uk/northernireland

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