The protection and restoration of good water quality and habitats is essential when working to restore healthy native fish populations.
GFT has, for many years, been working across the waters of Galloway to identify and improve degraded habitats. Increasing the climate resilience of local waters to climate change impacts is a priority. Climate change is raising water temperatures, increasing the magnitude and frequency of flood events and causing drier summers.
It is important to consider work programmes at a catchment level, particularly when looking for the causes of degraded habitats. Detailed catchment-wide habitat surveys (GFT have completed full catchment surveys on most rivers in Galloway) help identify, describe and quantify the severity of degraded habitat. Information gained from the surveys allows a list of remedial works to be prioritised which considers where maximum benefit can be gained for the available spend.
Habitat restoration works can be divided into four main types:
Work to improve water quality has focussed on addressing acidification through improving forest design plans (e.g. wider buffer zones and removal of riparian conifers including natural regen), removing conifers from deep peats and from high altitudes (>300 m above sea level) and undertaking peatland restoration.
The two-year project aimed at increasing awareness about sparling has come to an end. The project was designed to be delivered by two interns, the second of which Courtney Rowland reflects on her time on the project.
GFT would like to say thank you to everyone that helped us in our plea for information on sightings of American signal crayfish across Galloway.
GFT are presently sampling smolts caught in a fyke net at the inflow to Torhouse Fish Farm on the lower River Bladnoch. The fyke net also helps provide data on various other fish species within the Bladnoch catchment.