Things don’t always go as planned and despite our best efforts, we only managed to capture one wee trout to health check this morning when we visited Caaf Reservoir. We hoped that we could catch a few with rod and line rather than having to deploy gill nets but rather predictably we failed in a howling gale and sleet. Obviously to catch trout out of season we obtained a Government licence to allow us to do this.
The good news is that if we can confirm that the trout are healthy, then we have found at least one suitable and willing receiving water nearby and possibly another two that we hope to confirm tomorrow. All going well, we hope to be able to apply for the transport and stocking permissions by tomorrow night. This all depends on the health of the trout so we will revert to plan B and gill net a sample at some point early next week. If there are any concerns after that, the Fish Health Inspectorate will assist to ensure there are no biosecurity risks to receiving waters.
The trout we caught today was a 3 year old 8.5″ specimen. It was a lovely wee fish typical of what we were told we would find (but much younger). We opened it up looking for parasites as we had been informed that the trout were very small due to worms. Internally, there were no obvious signs of parasites. The gut contained a bolus of partially digested food although this was beyond identification. There wasn’t much in the alimentary canal so it didn’t appear to have eaten much recently which could be due to a shortage of food or more likely typical of slow metabolism due to cold water temperatures in winter. The flesh was pale coloured.
We will post more information on progress with the fish rescue as and when we can.
where are the fish to be relocated stuart
Ian, I can’t divulge this information yet until the T’s are crossed and the i’s dotted. We may decide not to reveal precise details of receiving water’s in any case as there may be reasons why one owner may not want this in the Public domain. Ultimately we can only move and stock fish under license so are working with Marine Science Scotland and the Fish Health inspectorate to ensure the best possible outcome for the fish while minimising risk to receiving waters.
Better news for the wee troot, though…
Fingers crossed.