ABSTRACT This year marks the 20th anniversary of The Ribble Trust and its catchment-based approach to conservation and river restoration. This report provides information of the inter-annual fisheries monitoring programme and an insight into the catchment’s health Adam Wheeler Fisheries Monitoring Officer FISHERIES MONITORING OF THE RIBBLE CATCHMENT 2018 The Ribble Rivers Trust Fisheries Monitoring of the Ribble Catchment Ribble Rivers Trust C/O Hanson Cement Ribblesdale Works Clitheroe BB7 4QF Phone: 01200 444452 E-mail: [email protected] Report title: Fisheries Monitoring of The Ribble Catchment 2018 Report reference: RRT_ Electric_Fishing _2018_Report Report version: 1.0 Date: 01/11/2018 Prepared for: The Ribble Rivers Trust Authored by: Adam Wheeler - Fisheries Monitoring Officer Checked by: Mike Forty - Catchment Science Co-ordinator Copyright Ribble Rivers Trust, 2018. This report has been prepared using due skill, care and diligence for the exclusive use of the commissioning party by Ribble Rivers Trust. No liability is accepted by Ribble Rivers Trust for the use and or application of the contents of the report. Fisheries Monitoring of the Ribble Catchment Table of Contents Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................................... i Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................................... ii 1.0 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................................1 1.1 Sub-Catchment Map .........................................................................................................................................2 2.0 Methodologies......................................................................................................................................................3 2.1 Electric fishing Surveys .....................................................................................................................................3 3.0 Monitoring Results ...............................................................................................................................................5 3.1 Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) ..............................................................................................................................5 The Calder Catchment ........................................................................................................................................8 The Hodder Catchment ......................................................................................................................................9 The Lower Ribble Catchment .......................................................................................................................... 10 The Main Ribble Catchment ............................................................................................................................ 11 3.2 Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) ....................................................................................................................... 12 The Calder Catchment ..................................................................................................................................... 15 The Hodder Catchment ................................................................................................................................... 15 The Main Ribble Catchment ............................................................................................................................ 16 3.3 Other Species ................................................................................................................................................. 17 4.0 Evaluation Results ............................................................................................................................................. 20 4.1 Radio Tracking of Capital Works .................................................................................................................... 20 Oakenshaw Bypass Channel ............................................................................................................................ 20 Houghton Bottoms Fish Pass ........................................................................................................................... 21 Lower Darwen Fish Pass .................................................................................................................................. 21 4.2 Length-Weight Relationships and Biomass ................................................................................................... 22 Condition Factor .............................................................................................................................................. 22 Biomass ............................................................................................................................................................ 25 5.0 Discussion .......................................................................................................................................................... 26 5.1 Summer temperatures and drought conditions............................................................................................ 26 5.2 Targeted conservation ................................................................................................................................... 28 Species richness ............................................................................................................................................... 28 Actions and Strategies ..................................................................................................................................... 30 6.0 Recommendations ............................................................................................................................................. 36 i | P a g e Fisheries Monitoring of the Ribble Catchment 7.0 References ......................................................................................................................................................... 37 8.0 Appendices ........................................................................................................................................................ 39 8.1 Appendix A .................................................................................................................................................... 39 8.2 Appendix B ..................................................................................................................................................... 40 8.3 Appendix C ..................................................................................................................................................... 43 ii | P a g e Fisheries Monitoring of the Ribble Catchment Acknowledgments The core fisheries monitoring of the Ribble catchment is supported and funded by The Ribble Rivers Trust and its members. Special thanks are given to Ribble Life Together for the funding of our new electric fishing system, without this vital piece of equipment the fisheries programme would not be possible. We are grateful to all involved landowners for their permission to land-access and look forward to continued cooperation for future work. The Ribble Trust wishes to thank the following researchers, staff, and volunteers whose help and continued enthusiasm has proved invaluable during this year’s survey program: Charlotte Ireland, Ellie Brown, Mike Forty and Michelle Tierney (RRT); Courtney Rowland and Jake Matthews (RRT, Seasonal Survey Assistants); Abigail Naylor, Jane Wheeler, Lynn Yates, Marco Dobson, Paul Sharples, Paul Wheeler, Sarah White and Tony Cookson (Electric Fishing Volunteers). i | P a g e Fisheries Monitoring of the Ribble Catchment Executive Summary The Ribble Rivers Trust concluded its 11th year of its fisheries monitoring programme of the Calder, Hodder and Ribble catchments. Repeat surveys have also been performed on the River Darwen to continue the capital work assessment from the Ribble Life Together programme, complimentary radio tracking surveys have also been completed on this catchment to monitor the success rate of the fish easements that were installed in 2018. Results of electric fishing surveys are used to support and identify future works as well as monitoring the long-term impacts of migration and habitat restoration schemes. Quantitative and semi-quantitative surveys are performed to assess catchment productivity using an adapted Crozier and Kennedy (1994) electric fishing method. As juvenile fish densities change rapidly with age, surveys are conducted at a similar time each year (June – October) and in the same area to allow for valid comparisons. A total of 333 sites were surveyed in 2018 covering 5 sub-catchments. Salmonids are a keystone species within the river system, they rely on ecological stability and are indicators of water and habitat quality. The Ribble Trust uses the National Fisheries Classification System (NFCS) to allow for the standardisation of results by grading sites based on the densities of fry. With 2018s summer dominated by warm weather with mean temperatures of 17.2°C and below average rainfall, drought conditions were seen across the Ribble