Category: Conservation
-
Burnock Dam
Ayrshire Rivers Trust staff looked at the Burnock Dam on the Burnock Water again today and are keen to see improvements for fish passage. While this dam may not be impassible, it is to most fish and therefore is a significant barrier to migrating trout and salmon. Upstream lies miles of excellent habitat that is…
-
New Proposed Gradings for conservation in 2020 announced.
The Scottish Government has undertaken an assessment of the conservation status of salmon in inland waters in Scotland announced their proposed gradings for 2020 season. This proposal is out for consultation at present and will be open to all to respond by no later than 19th September 2019. This is your opportunity to make representations…
-
Giant Hogweed threatens the Ayr catchment
Apart from the leachate escaping from the Tarbolton Landfill site, there a new environmental threat and that is that Giant Hogweed will spread from the site to the Water of Fail and to the Ayr at Failford and downstream. The scale of the problems is vast and with SNH and SEPA both unable to help…
-
Encouraging results on the Glenmuirshaw
ART biologists made the trip out to Glenmuirshaw yesterday (at the top of the Lugar catchment) to download the data from the Scottish River Temperature Monitoring Network logger that they contribute to on the Ayr and Stinchar. It’s a heck of a trek to get there but they always try to include other surveys to…
-
An invitation to watch Patagonia’s film exploring man’s intervention in salmon farming and hatcheries
Ayrshire Rivers Trust have arranged to screen the Patagonia produced film ‘Artifishal’ at the University of the West of Scotland, Ayr Campus, University Avenue, Ayr KA8 0SX on the 3rd July at 6.30pm. The University is on the banks of the Ayr at Craigie and there’s plenty of parking available. This event is free to attend…
-
Rain at Last!
Finally, after two months with very little rain, the weather has broken and the middle catchment received 18mm in a 24hour period on top of 6mm in the previous 24hour period. That led to the Ayr, Lugar and all the tributary burns coming into spate and giving the river a good clear out. The algae…
-
Smolts in slow motion
Here’s a link to a slow motion video shot at Catrine as smolts were rising in the lade. While this is an appreciation of the agility and athleticism of smolts (juvenile salmon) the video highlights one of the main problems facing smolt emigration from the River Ayr when they become drawn into an artificial lade.…
-
More details of smolts at Catrine
in ConservationART had a frank discussion with SEPA today over arrangements at Catrine to allow smolt migration. SEPA attended this morning and witnessed a few smolts (12-15) entering the by-wash chamber with most eventually going downstream back to the river. They are of the opinion that there’s no evidence to suggest that the current arrangements aren’t…
-
Catrine Dam and smolts
The smolt run is upon us again and we are seeing numbers of smolts increasing at Catrine Dam again this year. Since the small amount of rain we had last week, numbers are steadily increasing between penstock and lade and it seems only a matter of time until we will be facing a repeat of…