Spey-Fishery-Board-Annual-Report-2013-Web

Table 6: Avon mainstem salmon fry index resultsexpressed as salmon fry/min. Note that resultsare ordered in an upstream direction.Site code LocationSalmonfry/minTA01L1 Ballindalloch Castle 38.67TA05L1 Golf Course 39.67TA11L1 Haugh Pool 41.33TA15L1 Upstream Black Burn 83.00TA21R1 Little Dalrachie 22.33TA24R1 Dell footbridge 25.00TA29L1 Upstream Fodletter Bridge 26.33TA34L1 Lochy mouth 18.67TA38L1 Dalvrecht-Conglass confluence 22.00TA43R1 At "S" bend below New bridge 23.67TA49R1 Below Fordmouth Farm 15.00TA56R1 Upstream Delavoar Bridge 14.00TA60R1 Muckle Fergie confluence 9.33TA65R1 Heathery island far channel 6.00TA70R1 Opposite side channel 10.00TA76R1 Upstream Builg confluence 7.33TA81L1 Upstream Allt Loin 3.67TA84L1 Glenavon Estate 11.00TA89L1 Glenavon Estate 1.00TA94L1 Glenavon Estate 2.67TA99L1 Glenavon Estate 1.33TA101L1 Glenavon Estate 1.00TA105L1 Glenavon Estate 0.00Salmon were found at all salmon fry index sites onthe Avon, although in steadily decreasing numbers,with fry absent at the uppermost site. The meannumber of salmon fry/minute in the Avon sites was18.4, lower on average than the Spey, but it was ariver of two halves. The mean from the lower 12sites was 30.8, whilst in the upper sites it was 4.8.The habitat gradient and substrate present in theAvon mainstem provide almost universally good parrhabitat and many of the survey sites also supportedhigh parr numbers.The mean size of the fry, and parr, in the Avon weresmaller than found in the Spey throughout butparticularly in the Upper Avon where the mean sizeat some sites was just over 30mm. In these sites themean size of the one-year-old parr was around 55mm– significantly smaller than the parr present in sitesat similar altitude in the River Truim.As a consequence of the slow parr growth, smoltsfrom the Upper Avon are likely to be amongst theoldest in the Spey catchment.4.4 Tributary surveys 2013In accordance with the three-year survey rota of the Spey tributaries (see Figure 15 below), the Rivers Avon andTruim were scheduled for intensive survey in 2013. In addition, a selection of burns flowing directly into themainstem were surveyed, as well as some sites where issues had been identified the previous year, and whichwere therefore repeated in 2013. Comprehensive monitoring of sites stocked with salmon (0+) in previous yearswas also completed. A total of 116 sites were surveyed, most using a single run Scottish Fisheries CoordinationCentre (SFCC) area-based protocol, and some sites surveyed using multiple runs to allow estimates of total fishdensities to be calculated. Note that the results from these surveys are expressed as fish captured per 100m 2 . Fulldetails of the SFCC electrofishing protocol can be found at the following website:www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/marine/science/sfcc/Protocols47