SFCC member presentation from the 2023 annual biologists meeting.

1. Sarah Roebuck,
Administrator
Marcus Walters, River
Operations Manager
X2 Project Officers
Richard Miller, Director
Working with rivers training
placement

2. A good year for Upper Deveron Smolt
Production

3. A poor year for migration success
Acoustic tracking with 3 tag types (v5, v6, v7) & manual tracking
Low water years (2018 &
2022) = poor migration
success. Predation? Delayed
migration?

4. Piscivorous birds – monthly counts

5. 2022 Electrofishing
• 45 sites - mainly timed
• Mainstem -
• Allt Deveron
• Bogie
• Isla
• Forgue
• Turriff
• King Edward
• Good distribution of fry
• Parr numbers lower
Fry – presence /absence
Parr – presence /absence

6. Water quality; pollution, temperature, quantity
• Constant dialogue with SEPA Rural Land use Unit
• Reporting issues
• Providing input on focus areas
• Currently visiting King Edward, Bogie, Turriff & Forgue farms
• Developing our own water sampling protocol
• Responding to consultations
• Improving buffers strips and riparian managment

7. Barrier Removal
• Glen Keith – Chivas
• King Edward - funding sourced
• Historical fish pass work:
• Davidston (Isla)
• Auchintoul
Salmon present above both!

8. Restoration – hands off strategy
King Edward
• Tree Planting
• Habitat enhancement with LWD
• Pull back embankments
• Reform banks using wood and brash
• Remove forestry
• Reconnect flood plain / old channels
• Funding for restoration officer
• Landowner engagement / permission
• Crooksmill lessons
• Surveys by CBEC years apart showed
how a burn can recover if given space
and left alone
• WTT Visit / Report
• Importance of riparian zone –Habitat &
Buffer

9. Project Deveron
Counter – Acoustic
Camera at Bridge of
Alvah
 Estimate the total
adult run
PIT Array – detects PIT
tagged juveniles and
adults.
 Monitor juvenile and
smolt survival
 Monitor adult marine
survival
Partnership between DBIRT, AST & MSS

10. Counter

11. 4th-15th July
12 Days
274 upstream >450mm

12. PIT Arrays
• Arrays at Cabrach and Avochie
• Pit Tags
• Small
• Cheap
• No battery
• ~2000 Parr tagged each Autumn
• Smolt survival next spring
• Returning Adults = Marine survival
• Already detected winter parr
movements

13. Thank you!