Work to the dam continues and I arrived yesterday morning to speak to the site agent about various concerns and was faced with a rapidly emptying Anderson’s pool with at least one adult salmon swimming around in the mirky water. I call the office immediately and asked Gillian to bring the electrofishing gear so that we could remove this fish and any others that may be hidden to safety.
We discussed the entrance to the fish pass and I still have concerns about this, but I do understand why it had to be included in the piling at the moment. Once Gillian arrived, we set about removing the salmon and a load of juveniles from the pool. There was only one salmon in Anderson’s but two more were stranded in the middle pool and they too were removed to safety. I would have preferred a phone call requesting our assistance in advance of turning up to find the pool being pumped out and I did inform the site agent of this. Here is a link to the video clip we shot at Anderson’s. http://youtu.be/3NG6TSKC418
The head bailiff and I walked the depleted stretch looking for stranded fish but the herons appear to have cleaned up well over the last couple of weeks. We hardly saw any fish in this stretch.
Looking downstream from Anderson’s
Further down the depleted stretch. There is no route through for adult salmon at these levels. The herons have had a field day and we hardly saw a fish in this area. We will electrofish this for the Board later this summer and compare results with those of 2 years ago.
is it not just typical that common sense is not around when its needed. you have done everything possible to offer assistance to help take care of any stranded fish and saved many from death. the company knows you and what work youve done but still thinks its best not to let you know what they are doing and only by chance you turned up in nick of time to save more fish . why is the plight of wild fish not seen as important to everyone ? if it had been birds the job would have been shut down.
Very well put, Bob. I couldn’t have put it better myself.
Stuart
I am at a loss with the exception of the widening of deepening of andersons hole and alterations to the fish pass as to why we bother to waste public money in the current economic climate on a redundant dam, I understand it for a hydro system but let’s look at the facts, how many jobs will this venture create, what contribution will this have to the community and the are with regards to tourism, what financial gains will the community reap from this none would be the answer to all I think it’s about time we looked at a more constructive way of spending public money , on a lighter note I’m sure due to the lack of information and disruption caused by CCT the repairian owners and clubs above here I would have thought had a good case for compensation and if not for yourselves Stuart how many fish would we have lost , maybe I’m wrong maybe it is in safe hands and were over reacting we only need to restore our faith by looking at the hatchery in catrine and how much of a success that is ???? Rant over
This is an absolute disgrace. As a member of Sorn Angling Club I would like to know if we will be compensated for the cost of our season tickets as it would appear that this season, and possibly many in the future are ruined. How any regulatory body can condone this is beyond me. What benefit does this project bring to the local community when compared to the loss of income via anglers? What was the point in re-introducing salmon to this river and then do this?
Richard, thanks for your comments. Your points are well made and I suggest you take this up with the Club in the first instance. The Club’s management that I’ve spoken to, are already very concerned about this situation. I know of others who feel the same way and I’d encourage everyone concerned (Clubs or individuals) to contact Catrine Community Trust directly with your concerns as they are the organisation who contracted the engineers. If you have any concerns relating to fish passage or water quality, then I’d recommend contacting SEPA. ART and the Board are continually raising concerns on behalf of anglers, clubs and owners but there is no harm in anyone taking a direct approach.
I would say that we have been assured that the work to Anderson’s will only take 2 days and I was under the impression that it was to be started today but after a visit this evening, I’m not sure it has begun. I will be visiting in the morning to check on progress.Once completed, fish should be able to move freely into the upper river, hopefully in time to coincide with the rise in water levels that I expect are about to come within a day or two.