Annan Fishery Management Plan - RAFTS

More documents

Recommendations

Info

River Annan DSFB Fisheries Management Plan 2009 – 20145.2 Bio-securityBio-security is a broad theme that covers everything from disease to invasivespecies. Scotland‟s natural freshwater fauna and flora is somewhat impoverisheddue both to Britain‟s status as an island and, in Western Scotland, due to the lackof historic land (and river) links with mainland Europe. The most naturally diversepart of the British Isles would be the south eastern areas of England as therewould have been freshwater links via the Rhine which will have allowed ingressof freshwater species. The impoverished nature of Western Scotland‟s naturaldiversity does not mean that bio-diversity is poor but it does mean that manyspecies are vulnerable to the effects of competition, parasites or disease fromorganisms that they have not co-evolved with. Maintaining, as much as possible,the status quo of our current natural biota is therefore highly desirable if we wishto have natural abundance. Unfortunately there is a small band of anglers who,for entirely selfish reasons, believe that introductions of new species to acatchment are a good idea. This is emphatically not the case as all introductionshave an impact and none are ever passive. Within a river there are a myriad ofhabitat types which are fully utilised by fish. Sometimes a species of fish willthrive in a habitat that would be regarded as suboptimal. If a species isintroduced that finds the same habitat optimal or the fish species is predatorysevere damage will be caused. An example of this within the catchment was theextinction of vendace in Mill Loch where the introduction of roach by anglers wasone of the contributing factors. The two most common reasons for any wildlife tobe pushed towards extinction is the introduction of alien species and habitat loss(WWF).33
River Annan DSFB Fisheries Management Plan 2009 – 20145.2.1 Protect Against Pathogens and ParasitesThe most significant danger to salmon, and as a resultall fisheries on the Annan, is from the parasiteGyrodactylus salaris. The mortality rate amongst thesalmon would be in the order of 85% plus and the onlycure is to kill all the fish in the river. The results of thisare too disastrous to contemplate and so the only solution is to ensure that, asfar as is practicably possible, the parasite is kept out. The main risk is from directfish transfers but there are also other risks from anglers and canoeists who havebeen in GS areas.Although not as dangerous to wild fish, other notifiable disease pathogens suchas Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (VHS) could be devastating for theaquaculture industry and stimulate partial or total river closures until the outbreakis brought under control. Other diseases may have strains which are exotic to theAnnan fish and may cause problems in wild fish under extraordinary conditionssuch as very low flow with high temperatures and also high numbers of fishtrapped in small sections of the river. In these conditions fish are under stressand open to a wide range of diseases such as furunculosis which is caused bythe bacterium Aeromonas salmonicida.Action5.2.1.a5.2.1.b5.2.1.c5.2.1.dDescriptionEnsure sufficient literature in the way ofsignage is available to all anglers so they areaware of what to do to ensure that they canmaintain a disease and parasite free fisheryEndeavour to provide disinfection points at allthe popular angling access points on the river.Ensure that people are available to ensuredisinfectants are routinely renewed and olddisinfectant is properly disposed ofOrganise regular seminars for owners andanglers to attend and reinforce the message ofbio-security and GS in particularWorking with other fisheries organisations tryand maintain a frequent press presence of theGS issueReactive orProactiveProactiveProactiveProactiveProactiveTimescaleOngoingHavedisinfectionpointscompletedby Jun 2009Every twoyearsstarting2009AnnuallyNB note that all measures in this section are proactive, reactive measures wouldmean that it is too late.34
Page 1 and 2: River Annan DSFB Fisheries Manageme
Page 82 and 83:
River Annan DSFB Fisheries Manageme
Page 84:
River Annan DSFB Fisheries Manageme
show all

Annan Fishery Management Plan - RAFTS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?