The Celtic Sea Trout Project (CSTP) is a European Union, Interreg IV‐funded, Ireland‐Wales collaborative project looking into the status, distribution, genetics and ecology of sea trout around the Irish Sea (http://celticseatrout.com/?page_id=6). Several key aspects of the project require scales samples from rod‐caught fish within the Irish and Celtic Sea regions, especially from the priority river systems and fish caught at sea.
As an incentive to anglers to participate in scale collection in 2012, the CSTP project partners are offering three €100 tackle voucher prizes to be awarded to 3 anglers drawn at random from filled scale envelopes submitted to the project from anglers fishing within the project area (Irish and south Celtic Seas) in 2012.
How to get involved?
In order to have a chance to win all you will need to do is submit scale samples from your fish using one of these CSTP scale envelopes. To find out how to get your sample kits go to: (http://celticseatrout.com/?page_id=646 ) or contact the relevant people below.
what are the priority rivers?
Go to listing of rivers at http://celticseatrout.com/?page_id=33
Or call the project team at:
UK – Bangor University +44-1248-388603
IRELAND – Inland Fisheries Ireland +353-1-8842617
The Celtic Sea Trout Project (CSTP) is a European Union, Interreg IVA-funded, Ireland-Wales collaborative project on the status, distribution, genetics and ecology of sea trout around the Irish Sea. This note briefly outlines progress in 2011 for the many helpers and participants in angling clubs, river trusts and other organisations. More detailed technical accounts will be available in due course.
Sampling
The CSTP is reliant upon effective field sampling to collect data and material such as scales from fish for the scientific analysis. For example, the genetics and microchemistry analysis, that will tell us about the mixing and distribution of stocks, requires a baseline of measurements to be made in all the principal rivers around the Irish Sea which are likely to contribute to sea trout stocks. River sampling of juvenile
trout for the genetics was the focus of the CSTP scientific team’s work in 2010 and was completed in 2011, using a large scale electro-fishing programme, taking samples from around 80 rivers.
Sampling in the sea
Marine sampling of sea trout is a key part of the project because it has not been done before in the Britain and Ireland. We want to know, amongst other things, where they go, what they feed on and how fast they grow. This is a challenging task but the CSTP team has made good progress. We have had to develop new methods for trawl sampling and have used them successfully in surveys from Dublin to the Solway coast, via the Isle of Man. Shore sampling along the coasts of Wales, England and Scotland has proved more difficult; but the collections are still sparse and the marine sampling, including trawl sampling off Cardigan Bay and South Wales, will be intensified in 2012. Shore sampling in Ireland has yielded good results and this programme will be expanded in 2012.
Sampling in rivers
A major part of the sampling programme is the collection of scales for analysis of life histories, and growth rates. For this purpose we need to know which rivers they came from and, apart from fish traps of which there are only three across the whole CSTP area (Tawe, Dee and Lune), the sampling of adults in rivers has to be done by angling. This part of the sampling programme has required extensive communication with angler groups and distribution of thousands of sampling kits and scale envelopes. Several talks on the CSTP were given during the winters of 2008/9, 2009/10 and 2010/11 to clubs and associations across Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England. We aim to collect scales from at least 300 adult sea trout from each of the selected rivers over the project. 2
The scale sampling to date has had mixed fortunes, bearing in mind the target of 300 (Fig 1). The participation has been very good with over 1,600 anglers sending in 3974 sets, of which 2,322 came in 2011; so a big THANK YOU for all of those. Some rivers have done particularly well, such as the Border Esk, the Irish Dee, Argideen, Castletown and Currane, and on others some of the shortfall has been made up with other forms of sampling. We will continue the sampling in 2012.
Sample processing and data analysis
Genetic analysis at University College Cork and Bangor University has been completed to establish a baseline of genetic variation and has shown remarkably strong structuring, with patterns that appear to reflect the ancient glacial history of the Irish Sea. This information will be used to assign marine sea trout to their regions or rivers of origin, in order to learn how they distribute themselves at sea. Scales from the past two years are currently being read and analysed and are being used to derive the ages, spawning history and growth rates of individual fish throughout their lives in rivers and sea. .The bulk of this time-consuming work will be done by summer 2012. Other tasks on sea trout marine feeding, marine distribution modeling and fisheries analysis will be completed during 2012. The other work includes dissecting organs and tissues from 2000+ adult fish, microchemical analysis of the inner ear bones, measuring and weighing 5,000+ fry, and scale reading and analysis of the large historical collection of scales that the CSTP has brought together. So, coupled with the year round sampling, the scientists are fully occupied.
Figure 1: Rivers, with more than 10 samples at Jan 2012, ranked by scale sample size.
Sampling by anglers in 2012
The prize draw for the champion scale samplers will be held in Carmarthen 21st March 2013, but the CSTP needs the continued support of anglers in 2012. Scales can be taken easily once you have the basic kit which we provide. CSTP project team members are available to present talks to your club if required. Contact us through the CSTP website. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUING ASSISTANCE.
Nigel Milner with a shore-caught sea trout for the CSTP
The vast majority of sea trout caught by anglers are taken from rivers by fly, spinning or bait fishing. But we all know that sea trout spend a lot of their time feeding in coastal waters, so in principle it should be possible to catch them there by angling. Bass anglers, who spend a lot of time roaming the shores, often see sea trout leaping, and occasionally will hook one; but landing them is another matter as their aerial antics, so different from other sea fish often shake free the hooks.
In a few selected estuaries and sea lochs in Scotland angling for sea trout in the sea is quite common and even the preferred method, but elsewhere it is unusual. However this may be due to fashion and off the Anglesey coast sea trout fishing has proved to be very successful in the last two years. Nigel Milner, part of the Bangor University team and a keen angler, has been prompted by the Project to spend time finding suitable places where sea trout can be consistently found and caught by rod fishing. The best places are shallow intertidal, rocky ground where fast current sweep prey items of sandeels and sprats to the sea trout sheltering from the currents. At times during 2011, sea trout have been very abundant, with literally dozens of fish leaping in an area of a few hundred square metres, well within spinning distance of the shore. Some interesting features have emerged. At the Anglesey sites most of the fish in June and July are small fish (see photo), probably this year’s post-smolts, and on some days the fish have all been of one similar size, on another tide they appear to be different sized fish, suggesting some shoaling or at least aggregation of age/size classes. Some very large fish are seen occasionally, over 10lbs, but these are obviously far less abundant and largest so far taken weighted 4lbs.
Seven sea trout taken from the shore for the CSTP and the lure than caught them
After some trial and error the best way to hook them appears to be small silvery lures like Tobies and Dexter wedges, or small plugs, and a key has been to use nylon line not the braid popular amongst bass lure fishermen, because the stretch of the nylon cushions the leaping actions of the fish. You need to get the time of tide right too. Ebb tide at some sites is the preferred time, possibly because it has faster currents and the lures can swing round in the same way as in river fishing. That is presumably a feature of the local shore configuration. But it works and Anglesey has produced 17 fish so far in 2011 and, when marine dwelling sea trout have proved so hard to capture by nets on the open rocky coasts, this is a valuable sample. So why not get down to the shore, hunt out some suitable spots and try it!
Sea trout and bass keep company: a good sea trout and bass taken from the Anglesey shoreSea trout had been feeding on sprats, the lure that it fell for is shown at the top.
NB CAUTION – STAY LEGAL!
Please note that fishing with the intention of contributing to the CSTP does not exempt you from fishing regulations. Local regulations are outlined below. On the Welsh and English coast…
Regulations apply to sea trout angling in the sea as well as in rivers, but these vary around the Irish Sea. In areas managed by the Environment Agency, out to 6 miles offshore in England and Wales, you must have an EA migratory salmonid rod license, just as when fishing in freshwater. Also you must adhere to any byelaws that apply regarding size limits, seasons and quotas etc. You can check these on http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/recreation/fishing/31465.aspx
On the Irish coast…
Legislation regarding sea trout in Ireland
In the sea the season extends from January 1st to October 12th. If fishing in a specific river estuary, then the close season for that particular river will apply. A number of fishery estuaries are closed or fished on a catch & release basis for sea trout of 40cm or over. Anglers fishing for sea trout must make themselves fully aware of the regulations.
Licence (RoI)
A State Salmon Rod License is required to fish for sea trout
You must carry your license, logbook and tags with you at all times
All sea trout retained, that is fish 40cm or over, must be tagged and the logbook filled out accordingly
It is prohibited to sell rod caught sea trout over 40cm.
Anglers do catch sea trout whilst fishing in the coastal waters around the shores of Scotland. They commit no offence if these fish are captured unintentionally and returned safely to the water. Under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003 section 6 (1) an angler is required to obtain written permission from the proprietor of the salmon fishing rights if he/she wishes to fish for or take sea trout (sea trout and salmon are classified as the same under Scots law). This law applies to inland waters and the sea up to 1.5 kilometres seaward from mean low water springs.
Anglers assisting with the collection of sea trout samples
CSTP is extremely grateful to all those anglers who have collected sea trout scales from their rod-caught fish in 2011. Hundreds have been returned to the project officers in Ireland and Wales. Anglers or clubs with further samples to return are requested to return them to:
John Coyne,
Inland Fisheries Ireland, Swords Business campus, Swords, Co. Dublin, ROI -Or–
Dr Carys Davies,
School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Menai Bridge, Anglesey,LL59 5AB,Wales
On May 14th 2011 The Environment Agency Wales (Northern Area) held a fishing open day for anglers and the public at the United Utilities, Llyn Brenig Visitor Centre. The EA kindly offered the CSTP a stand there to promote the project. Nigel Milner and Nik Tysklind from the Bangor University team spent the day there and we met several anglers who were already involved with the programme and others who expressed interest in helping.
Brace of sea trout from the tide
Two anglers who returned scales in 2010 were Dyfed Jones, from Foxon’s Tackle Shop, Ruthin, and Alan Cuthbert, who runs the anglers’ website, Campaign for the Protection of Welsh Fisheries (). We were able to show them the scales from their fish on a projector and how they are read. It was great to see them get absorbed by the life stories of their fish. As experienced anglers they knew all about sea trout migration of course; but for others it was a revelation to learn about the extensive migrations and habitat changes experienced by that the trout living in their local rivers. So, a good day that hopefully will lead to more samples as the project develops.
Alan Cuthbert (left) and Dyfed Jones examine a sea trout scale at the Brenig Open Day
Last week, on a balmy July evening anglers from the Rossin & Slane District Anglers club hosted a special competition to provide sea trout scale samples for the Celtic Sea trout Project (CSTP). Over 30 anglers fished hard in low water conditions, not only increase awareness amongst members about the project, but also to enjoy some of the lovely pools and runs in the lower reaches of the Boyne sea trout fishery near Oldbridge which the club operates.
On the night Club Chairman Liam Rice said that the club wanted to support the CSTP as much as possible by taking scale samples for the remainder of the season, and, at the same time to encourage club members to enjoy their excellent fishery. The Boyne, a highly regarded salmon fishery, is open for catch-and-release salmon fishing in 2011. Somewhat less well-known as a sea trout fishery, the Boyne is regarded by the INTERREG 4A funded CSTP as one of the ‘priority’ systems for the CSTP which means it will be subject to detailed investigations of its sea trout populations. These ‘priority’ catchments were selected by the CSTP project team on the basis of the quality of their sea trout angling and include the Castletown, Slaney, Argideen and Lough Currane fisheries.
Conditions on the night were difficult due to exceptionally low water after a very dry month, and slightly elevated water temperatures meant that activity was a little slow. Six fish were caught on the night – ranging from 10 ozs to 1½ lbs. After the 11 pm finish scores were tallied and Joe Coleman emerged as the winner. Scale samples were taken from all fish by biologist John Finn from Inland Fisheries Ireland who was there to help out and he even managed to assist in sampling by casting a few of his favourite flies. Further events are planned by the club to assist the CSTP and Liam Rice said that the club would “do all that was possible to provide samples for this very important piece of research. The Boyne deserves to be included as one of the best sea trout fisheries in Ireland and the club will continue to work on improving it.”
Sea trout anglers on the east and south coast of Ireland, the west coasts of Scotland, England and Wales and on the Isle of Man have an excellent chance to win one of the many valuable prizes on offer in a free prize draw by collecting scale samples from any sea trout they catch in 2011. The Celtic Sea Trout Project (CSTP) is incentivising anglers to take samples of scales from any sea trout they catch over the season in specific “priority” rivers.
Valuable prizes for anglers who send scales samples from sea trout caught on the priority rivers.
A £500 (€582) tackle voucher prize to the angler submitting the most scalesamples from any CSTP priority river in 2011.
Three £350 (€407) tackle voucher prizes to each of the three 3 anglers who return the most scales from priority systems in 2011 within each of other three regions: Ireland (inc NI), Scotland and IoM, Wales, or NW England
Ten £100 (€116)tackle vouchers to be awarded to 10 anglers to be drawn at random from the remaining scale samples submitted. (this includes samples submitted in 2010 and those from non‐priority rivers within the project area)
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?
The CSTP intends to provide this missing knowledge and to translate it into fishery and conservation benefits for countries bordering the Irish Sea.
The scales are important samples for this major research project which commenced in late 2009. Interpretation of scales from river and marine caught sea trout will contribute much to understanding some of these questions as they will provide very important primary information for analysis of river-specific life histories and growth rates.The scales will also be used for novel studies including genetic analysis (so called genetic finger-printing) to characterise individual river stocks, and for micro-chemical analysis to identify thefreshwater origins of sea trout and, specifically, to determine their marine feeding areas within the Irish Sea, based on specific chemical signatures deposited within the scales.
Scale collection is difficult because, apart from fish traps, of which there are only three across the whole CSTP area, the sampling of adults in rivers has to be done by angling. This is an extremely important element of the project and anglers are encouraged to participate fully so that sea trout can be better understood which will help to conserve this fascinating migratory trout. Scales from sea trout of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest,over the full extent of the angling season are requested and can be taken easily using the basic scale sampling kit which is provided free of charge (seewww.celticseatrout.com for more details).
The project is part funded by the European Regional Development Fund through the Ireland-Wales Programme (INTERREG 4A). The main project partners are Inland Fisheries Ireland, Bangor University, University College Cork and Environment Agency Wales.
The winners will be chosen based on the scale samples submitted to us before 31st March 2012. The prize draw will take place on the 1st of April 2012. Winners will be contacted directly.
To download you copy of the scale sample poster, click here
The Celtic Sea Trout Project (CSTP) is a European Union, Interreg IV-funded, Ireland-Wales collaborative project looking into the status, distribution, genetics and ecology of sea trout around the Irish Sea. This note briefly outlines progress in 2010 for the many helpers and participants in angling clubs, river trusts and other organisations. More detailed technical accounts will be available in due course.
Project management
Two fulltime Project Officers were appointed under contract in May 2010: one each in Ireland and Wales, to run the sampling and data handling tasks that support the rest of the CSTP. Contractors were also appointed by August 2010 to undertake certain of the specialist tasks (fisheries analysis, life history analysis ad modelling, and hydrodynamic modeling). Formal launch meetings were held in Wales and in Ireland.
Sampling
The CSTP is totally reliant upon effective field sampling to collect data and material from fish (tissues, gut contents, gonads scales etc) for the scientific analysis. For example, the genetics and microchemistry analysis, that will tell us about the mixing and distribution of stocks, requires a baseline of measurements to be made in all the principal rivers around the Irish Sea which are likely to contribute to sea trout stocks. River sampling of juvenile trout for the genetics was the focus of the CSTP team’s work in 2010 and was 95% completed in full using a large scale electro-fishing programme, taking samples from around 80 rivers. Some preliminary marine sampling was also carried out.
A major part of the sampling programme is the collection of scales for analysis of life histories, and growth rates in sea trout. This is particularly difficult because, apart from fish traps, of which there are only three across the whole CSTP area, the sampling of adults in rivers has to be done by angling. Moreover, scale reading and analysis are labour-intensive and time-consuming which limits the numbers of samples that can be dealt with. Accordingly, we have restricted this part of the programme to 25-30 rivers, selected to cover the Irish Sea and where angling catch has historically been large enough to provide the samples. This part of the sampling programme has required extensive liaison with angler groups and distribution of sampling kits and scale envelopes. Several talks on the CSTP were given during the winters of 2008/9 and 2009/10 to clubs and associations across Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England. We aim to collect scales from at least 300 adult sea trout from each of the selected rivers over the two main years of sampling (angling seasons 2010 and 2011). A feature of the scale sampling programme is the need to collect samples from the full size range of sea trout in these rivers to reflect the overall population structure.
The collection of scale samples in 2010 has not gone as well as the juvenile sampling and the returns to date fall well short of the indicative annual target of 150 fish /river (see Figure 1), which includes a small number of samples taken in 2009). Only the Nith and Border Esk in UK and the Argideen, Castletown and Currane in Ireland reached the target levels and most others achieved less than 20%. This was not due to fish shortage because catches were comparatively high last year. A major effort will be made in 2011 to raise awareness and to promote scale sampling by anglers, which will include a valuable incentive scheme.
Figure 1: Scale sample sizes in British, Irish and Isle of Man rivers.
Data analysis
Samples taken in last year’s surveys are being processed at the moment. Genetic analysis at the Universities of Cork and Bangor is now in full swing, and a first look at the base line description should be possible in March 2011. Scale data are being coupled with the extensive and catch statistics to describe variation in the complex life histories of sea trout and to develop analytical approaches that will enable the impacts of environmental pressures to be investigated. Other tasks on marine feeding and distribution modeling and fisheries analysis will start in 2011.
Sampling by anglers in 2011
The CSTP needs the continued support of anglers to collect the required scale samples in 2011. Scales from sea trout of all sizes across the full angling season are requested and can be taken easily once you have the basic kit which we provide. CSTP project team members are available to present talks to your club if required. Contact us through the CSTP website www.celticseatrout.com .
