You may recall that Marine Scotland Science, Fishery Management Scotland and the local boards and trusts were involved in an Scotland wide adult salmon sampling programme last year. This involved collecting accurate weight and/or lengths of rod caught fish and the collection of scale samples. The Ness was one of the biggest contributors to the study, for that we are indebted to the Dochfour ghilles, Grant and Cameron, who sampled most of the fish.
The report on that study has now been made available. Regional differences on smolt and adult sea ages have been identified with a greater proportion of younger age e.g. one year old smolts, in the south of the country.
It would be nice if this survey was repeated again this year. We have been collecting scales all spring from a number of beats, mainly for genetic analysis but they could I am sure contribute to this study also, and would provide a season long sample.
Any questions please feel free to ask – ceo@ndsfb.org