Annan Fishery Management Plan - RAFTS

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River Annan DSFB Fisheries Management Plan 2009 – 20142.4.1 Native SpeciesAtlantic Salmon Salmo salarSalmon are generally abundant on the Annansystem although there are a few areas of concern,mainly in the south eastern tributaries, particularlythe Mein where only the lower parts of this tributarycontribute to salmon production. Many of the otherareas of the of the River Annan that show nopresence of salmon are above natural barriers or insmall streams that are unsuitable for them. Ingeneral the most productive areas of the river arethe Northern and Western tributaries. High numbers of fry are found in the Waterof Milk system but this does not translate into highnumbers of parr. This is probably due to a lack ofgood parr habitat but also from smolt scale readingwork carried out in 1997 it would seem that there isa high (30%) number of s1s being producedtherefore 1+ parr would not be available during thesummer electrofishing season. The upper (andtherefore colder) parts of this system do producemore s2s and therefore show correspondinglyhigher parr numbers in electrofishing surveys. Theelectrofishing also does not take into considerationthe main stem of the river and the lower parts of the major tributaries which aretoo wide and deep to be effectively electrofished.Two minor systems (the Lochar and the Kirtle) under the control of the RADSFBhave very poor distribution of salmon. These systems have suffered greatly frompollution in the past and are deemed to be in recovery. On the Pow Watersalmon are entirely absent but this is not surprising as the water is heavilymodified and provides very unsuitable habitat for salmon.Brown/Sea Trout Salmo truttaTrout are widely distributedthroughout the Annan systemwith absence found in veryfew areas. Almost all theareas that they are absentfrom are due to obstructions and in very minor tributaries.Above many obstructions that salmon are found to beabsent from there is good populations of trout, some ofthese populations could be migratory (either river troutmoving up or sea trout) that are able to access water thatsalmon cannot and others could be isolated breeding11
River Annan DSFB Fisheries Management Plan 2009 – 2014populations that are separated from the main river system.In the Kirtle and the Lochar, trout populations in the upper parts of these systemsare very good in general but the lower (and most polluted parts) of these rivershave very low populations. The Pow Water has a very small population but aswith salmon the heavily modified nature of this water course means that this isnot surprising.Common Eel Anguilla anguillaEels are widespread but scarce throughout allthe RADSFB‟s area of management (probablymore widespread than the map indicates) butare more common closer to the estuary. Mostof eel captures further up the river are made upof old and relatively large eels (>30cm). As theelectrofishing surveys do not target eels directly, proper distribution is notpossible to assess. On some of the stillwaters around Lochmaben anglers reportcapturing high numbers of eels whilst targeting other species but they areprobably present in most of the stillwaters in the area.Perch Perca fluviatilisPerch are locally common on the slower parts of theriver and in most of the stillwaters in the catchment.They are probably present in more stillwaters thanare recorded at present but there are no recordscurrently to confirm or refute this.Pike Esox luciusPike are widespread in the slow flowing area of themiddle river and in the stillwaters around Lochmabenand Kinmount. They appear infrequently in anglercatches on the faster, lower part of the river. It isthought that these are fish which have becomestranded from their „parent‟ population as this part of the river is unsuitable forthem.12
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