River Eden Annual Monitoring Report 2015 Compiled as part of the Eden Fisheries Plan Contents Page River Eden District Fisheries Association (REDFA) Rod returns, C & R and Bird Predation Report 1 – 6 Eden Rivers Trust 2015 Monitoring Summary 7 – 19 Ecological Monitoring within the DTC Programme - River Eden 2015 20 Environment Agency 2015 River Eden Fish & Invertebrate Monitoring Summary 21 – 29 Natural England Sea Lamprey redd counts, River Eden SAC, June 2015 30 - 31 1 | P a g e River Eden District Fisheries Association (REDFA) 2015 Rod returns, C&R and Bird predation Report REDFA Fisheries Plan actions to address declining fish stocks A reoccurring message in the formative Eden Fisheries workshops was concerns expressed by anglers and fisheries of the noticeable decline in fish stocks in the catchment. This was felt particularly in migratory salmon & sea trout fisheries where published national angler returns portrayed a steady decline in NW catches since a highpoint in 2004. As a result, a range of measures have been introduced and coordinated by REDFA to improve and better monitor stocks. REDFA now collate independent annual Rod fisheries salmon returns and catch and release figures from 17 principal fisheries from Rockcliffe to Waters Meet. This provides comparative data to the published EA individual angler declared catches. The years from 2013 – 15 are summarised below. Voluntary Catch & Release codes for both salmon and sea trout where proposed by CAA and agreed by fisheries at the Wreay Workshop in March 2014. This has raised awareness of the need to conserve stocks which were estimated to have reached “At Risk” levels in 2013 & 2014 and instilled a more conservation minded approach in the catchment. Improved C & R figures are illustrated below. A salmon carcass tagging scheme was introduced in 2015 to reinforce the annual voluntary limits of fish retained by individual anglers. A register of angler tags and rod licence details are maintained for completeness. REDFA applied for and now coordinate and manage the Eden Area Predation Licence for Cormorants and Goosander. A table and report below illustrates bird count figures and management actions. 2013 – 2015 Eden rod Fisheries Returns Table 1 provides a summarised breakdown of salmon caught by month in the seasons 2103 – 2014 – 2015 (released fish in brackets), over three sections of the Eden. These figures are compiled by REDFA from 17 principal fisheries returns submitted at the close of each season. The EA angler declared rod comparative catches for 2013 & 2014 are included, as are Haaf & Coop net declared catches. For 2015 the EA published a provisional 614 salmon caught. This has since been withdrawn due to online reporting errors and the REDFA figure of 902 salmon has been credited as the official final return and used for stock assessment purposes. 2 | P a g e Table 1 - Eden fisheries Salmon rod returns 2013 - 2014 - 2015 2013 JAN FEB MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT TOTAL C & R C & R % Rockcliffe → 1 4 16 (16) 15 28 22 9 (3) 130 177 66 468 (265) 57% Warwick (1) (4) (15) (28) (9) (51) (99) (39) bridge Warwick → 3 (3) 17 25 7 (7) 2 (2) 10 (6) 24 3 (2) 91 (74) 81% Armathwaite (17) (25) (22) bridge upstream of 2 (2) 9 (9) 6 (6) 1 (1) 14 33 37 102 (102) 100% Armathwaite (13) (33) (37) bridge Total rod 1 4 19 (19) 34 62 35 12 154 234 106 661 (441) 67% returns (1) (4) (34) (62) (22) (6) (71) (144) (78) EA angler rod 4 19 (19) 33 58 30 31 120 230 107 634 (443) 70% returns (3) (33) (57) (18) (16) (48) (156) (92) Eden & Esk 46 192 299 42 579 Haaf net returns 2014 Rockcliffe → 1 5 (5) 7 (7) 9 (9) 20 12 142 58 68 322 (234) 73% Warwick (1) (16) (7) (94) (44) (51) bridge Warwick → 7 (7) 5 (5) 6 (4) 2 (1) 7 (5) 10 (9) 22 59 (53) 90% Armathwaite (22) bridge upstream of 1 (1) 5 (5) 5 (5) 4 (4) 16 26 22 46 125 (123) 98% Armathwaite (15) (26) (21) (46) bridge Total rod 1 6 (6) 19 19 30 30 175 90 136 506 (410) 81% returns (1) (19) (19) (24) (23) (125) (74) (119) EA angler rod 5 (5) 22 19 28 22 143 75 135 451 (355) 79% returns (22) (19) (17) (16) (91) (55) (128) Eden & Esk 58 60 65 20 203 Haaf net returns 2015 Rockcliffe → 19 (19) 24 58 47 92 139 88 55 522 (438) 84% Warwick (24) (58) (39) (72) (97) (79) (50) bridge Warwick → 16 (16) 30 71 20 9 (7) 47 10 (9) 6 (6) 209 (200) 96% Armathwaite (30) (71) (17) (44) bridge upstream of 1 5 (5) 14 36 27 4 (4) 37 19 28 171 (167) 98% Armathwaite (1) (14) (36) (26) (35) (18) (28) bridge Total rod 1 40 (40) 68 165 94 105 223 117 89 902 (805) 89% returns (1) (68) (165) (82) (83) (176) (106) (84) EA angler rod 614 (data error) returns Eden & Esk 48 72 92 (8) 29 (2) 241 (62) 26% Haaf net (23) (29) returns 3 | P a g e River Eden 1993 – 2015 declared catch and released rod caught salmon The graph below illustrates angler’s conservation trends in releasing salmon over the last two decades to a highpoint in 2015 of 89% of a rod catch of 902 salmon which is well above national average. River Eden declared salmon rod catches with catch & release rates (%) 2500 100.00% 90.00% 2000 80.00% 70.00% 1500 60.00% 50.00% 1000 40.00% Number fish of % of % released fish 30.00% 500 20.00% 10.00% 0 0.00% Retained Released % C & R Figure 1 – Eden catch and release rate for salmon The introduction of angler conservation codes in 2014 and the carcass tagging scheme in 2015 is instrumental in working towards the target of achieving 90% catch & release rate by 2017 when Net Limitation Order and Byelaw reviews are due. Declared Salmon catch for the Eden - “Spring and Post spring salmon” Figure 2 Illustrates rod angler reported catches of salmon caught up to a Spring (1ST June) cut off each year. Thereafter all fish caught are deemed to be Post Spring fish. It is noticeable that with the improving spring runs over the last three years and a diminishing grilse and autumn stocks a significant and greater proportion of the later Post Spring catch are in fact MSW stock by reason of their age/weight characteristics. 2014 number of Eden salmon killed per angler Figure 3 represents the number of fish killer per angler from approx. 200 EA angler reported catch returns. 451 salmon were reported caught for the season, so a large proportion of the 125 anglers reported as killing no fish returned the bulk of the total 79% C & R rate for the river that year. This has now risen to 89% in 2015 from a rod catch of 902 salmon, interestingly the numbers of anglers registering for carcass tags in 2015 and 2016 was almost identical – 350 anglers and 2000 tags. 4 | P a g e Figure 2 – Spring & Post Spring Salmon Number of salmon killed per angler - Eden 2014 140 120 96 retained of 451 caught - 79% C & R 100 2255 salmon run estimate - 48% CL 80 60 40 20 0 0 1 2 3 Figure 3 – Number of salmon killed per angler 5 | P a g e Avian Predator Report and Eden Area Licence REDFA is now into its second year of reporting and managing the Eden catchment licence and building on the knowledge gained in our first season. Our efforts to minimise bird impact on stocks are built around the twice yearly bird count data which provides a snapshot of all species over a two hour window on 50+ walked beats on the mainstem Eden and major tributaries. Cormorants and Goosander are present in sufficient numbers to impact on fry, parr, smolts and adult stocks and are a more recent “migrant” which many anglers will recall only started to visit our waters in the 1970`s & 80`s. Both birds have designations that only permit shooting to kill with licensed Natural England approval and observance of strict conditions, quota and season restrictions. The licence period runs from 1st Sept to 15th March and given evidence of sufficient numbers being present an extension to protect smolts until the 15th May. The quota we receive is subject to the national limit and based on our count data and only issued in addition to non-lethal bird scare methods being used. REDFA manages and coordinates the Area licence for 10 fisheries in the catchment extending from the estuary at Rockcliffe up to Warcop. The Angling Trust has lobbied hard to introduce this Pilot scheme and provided valuable technical support through their Fisheries catchment adviser Richard Bamforth. They have backed this with grant aid to REDFA amounting to £1893 this year for predation equipment and catchment mapping support. High numbers of cormorants roosting and feeding in the middle Eden, with groups of 50 – 80 present October to Feb, were recorded. Similar numbers of Goosander were noticeable in lower reaches of the Eden Feb – May as they reared their broods and tracked smolts in their vulnerable migration period. Communication channels between fisheries have improved significantly and our work is better coordinated and targeted to the extent that we have been able to disperse groups of birds much earlier into the season. Within the last 3 weeks we have seen a large influx of cormorants as flood waters have receded.