#CelticSeaTrout - Minister Fergus O’Dowd joined anglers, environmentalists and fisheries scientists at the Westcourt Hotel in Drogheda on Tuesday evening (17 September) to hear some of the key findings of the Celtic Sea Trout Project, which was funded mainly by the EU under the INTERREG 4A Ireland-Wales Programme.
The enigmatic sea trout is a highly prized angling species, and to many anglers it is regarded as a fish which offers better sport than the salmon.
Sea trout support and sustain important and valuable fisheries throughout the study area of the Celtic Sea Trout Project (CSTP) launched two years ago, comprising the full extent of the Irish Sea and its contributing rivers and selected systems along the south coast of Ireland.
Ireland is blessed with sea trout fisheries, but other angling treasures, although well known locally, have emerged over the course of the project. Individually, these sea trout fisheries on both our major and lesser rivers have the potential to generate small but important social and economic benefits within local communities. Collectively, their importance and value at a regional and national level may be far greater than generally realised.
In addition to its angling value, the sea trout is a unique and potentially valuable indicator of environmental change and the quality of the aquatic environment, and this potential was fully investigated during the project where the marine ecology of sea trout was a key focus.
The CSTP is a unique project in which the scientists worked closely with anglers, fishery owners and inshore and offshore marine fishermen throughout the entire region bordering the Irish Sea and provided the required feedback to keep all informed about the project and the collective sea trout populations within the study area.
Congratulating all those who contributed to the CSTP, Minister O’Dowd said: “From the outset it was clear that the Celtic Sea Trout Project represented a major step forward to achieving our ultimate goal of maintaining healthy fish stocks that support biodiversity, sustainable fisheries and provide optimum benefits for the general community as a whole.”
From sea trout scales provided by anglers and others, a broad pattern of life histories emerged. This was of faster growth and higher survival (more multiple spawners) in southern Wales rivers; high survival, but somewhat slower growth in the northwest England rivers; and lower survival off the Irish coast, where finnock (fish returning in the same year that they smolted) dominated the runs in most rivers. The Currane system in Kerry was a notable exception, with a high proportion of long-lived adult sea trout.
The comprehensive genetic study found nine principal regional groups within the data set and clear differences in the areas that these groups occupied during their marine feeding migration, although there were also examples of substantial exchange rates between them. This was demonstrated by some migrants which were recorded up to 300km from their river of origin.
