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Presentation on the Principles of Fisheries
Management given at the Freshwater
Fisheries Forum Steering Group in Perth
on 21st June 2006
by Alastair Stephen
Simon McKelvey
What is Fisheries Management?
The basic principle is simple:
 Provide fish that can be caught by those
with a legitimate right to catch them.
 When considering natural fish stocks this
means providing an exploitable excess of
fish above the biological limit of the
population.
 If exploitation/mortality exceeds the natural
biological limit, the stock of fish will decline
and the fishery will become rapidly
unsustainable
How do you do it ?
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To effectively produce sustainable levels of
catchable fish from a population one needs to
fully understand:
Species involved - spawning requirements
/escapement
Size and age structure of the population
Factors effecting the population – recruitment,
dispersal, mortality, disease, predation etc
How the target species interacts with other fish
species
Other factors the Fishery Manager needs
to understand
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Factors effecting the habitat in which the fish
are living:
Physical and chemical properties of the water
body – still waters and flowing waters
Productivity and its measurement
Energy flow / food webs – who eats who
Fish feeding requirements / limitations
Levels of predation and mortality
How does the manager make the fishery
better ? – Toolbox approach
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Improve habitat – bank protection, plant/cut down riparian
vegetation
Improve in-stream structures
Maintain acceptable water quality
Maintain/improve access for migratory fish
Control poaching activities/control predation
Reduce exploitation by altering angling/netting pressure
Alter recruitment to the population
Influence surrounding land management practices
Consider stocking
Prerequisites for successful Manager
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Full working knowledge of the following:
Freshwater Biology
Fishing and sampling methodologies –
including all relevant protocols for identifying
and quantifying their fishery resources
Water quality and its influence
Bailiffing and Keepering and the Legal
aspects of their operations
Fisheries improvement methodologies
Fishery Management
Planning
Fishery Management Plans
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Need framework to give consistency of plan
production.
Based on best scientific evidence available.
Framework must be flexible enough to cover
all species and regions.
Formalised thought process that develops
management actions from data.
Cyclical process which evolves, both driven
by research and identifying further research
needs.
Advantages
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Encourages a strategic view of management.
Prioritises issues and works required.
Identifies needs for resources and finance.
Gives continuity of management- staff /
management changes.
Proactive rather than reactive management.
More Advantages
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All stakeholders can see and understand the
reasons for management actions and the
research and analysis supporting them.
Management and research linked in an
evolving process.
Linkage with wider catchment and basin
planning process.
Funding opportunities
SFCC Fishery Management Plan Framework
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Introduction
Aims and objectives
Description
Analysis and evaluation
Prescriptions
Monitoring and review
Appendices
Description
Aims and objectives
Monitoring and review
analysis
prescriptions
Aims and objectives
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Sets out the scope, duration and objectives of the plan.and also
how it relates to other plans and as part of the WFD planning
process.
Should set out aims and objectives for fish species other than
trout, salmon and other commercially important species.
Description
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Description of catchment and catchment use
Description of fish stocks by species
Description of fisheries
Description of habitat: include distribution and
suitability of habitat, location of obstructions
to migration, location of degraded habitat etc.
Analysis and evaluation
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Assessment of stock and fishery performance.
Limiting factors / constraints
Opportunities
Wide range of analytical tools may be used in stock
assessment. Improved tools should be sought and
applied as the plan is reviewed and updated.
An inventory of gaps in knowledge will also help to
guide research programmes both locally and
nationally.
Prescriptions
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A detailed list of prescriptions for each subcatchment and species covered by the plan.
Works should be prioritised, timetabled and costed.
These prescriptions are likely to be in tabular form
with column headings; issue, action,
costing/timetable, funding/lead agency, priority,
notes.
This can then form the basis of an annual work
programme over the period of the plan.
Some prescriptions may be outside present
resources available but can be identified to be
carried over into next phase of plan.
Monitoring and review
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This ensures that the plan achieves the
objectives detailed in the first section and is
also sufficiently flexible to adapt to changing
circumstances and new data.
This is likely to take place annually or at key
milestones in the implementation of the plan.
Appendices
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Include the survey data on which the plan is
based and relevant documents.
May document where this data is stored
rather than include in the plan.
Plan Structure
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For a large river system a series of chapters and sub
chapters are needed. A regional plan to cover a number of
small rivers could use a similar structure.
Conon
Blackwater
Salmon
Trout
Bran
Pike
Meig
Other Fish sp
Orrin
Lower Conon
River Glascarnoch
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An example of the
application of the SFCC
planning process to the
River Glascarnoch, a
tributary of the
Blackwater.
Where the aim is to
optimise the
sustainable production
of Atlantic salmon
Description
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SFCC Habitat Survey carried out on
Glascarnoch.
Divided into 250m lengths, detailed habitat
parameters recorded for each length.
Data entered into GIS compatible database.
Preliminary electro-fishing carried out.
3.3 km of river with a wetted area of 60,975
square metres.
Distribution of flow types
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Glas c a rn oc h. tx t
Sm
Dp
Sp
Dg
Sg
Ru
Ri
To
Lcs lo ch _c on .s hp
Ceh 05_ c on. sh p
14 - Crom arty C oas ta l
15 - Rive r A ln es s
16 - Rive r G las s
17 - Rive r Co non
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#
# #
Distribution of substrate types.
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Gla s c arn oc h. tx t
Si
Sa
Gr
Pe
Co
Bo
Be
Ob
Lc s loc h _c on . s hp
C eh0 5_c o n.s hp
14 - C ro m ar ty C oa s ta l
15 - R iv e r Aln es s
16 - R iv e r Gl as s
17 - R iv e r C on on
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#
# #
River Conon Hydro-electric Scheme
Glascarnoch
River
Analysis-water quality and quantity
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Electro-fishing found four year classes of
brown trout present, indicating that both
water quality and quantity were suitable for
salmonids.
There is no compensation flow agreed for
Glascarnoch. The present flow is due to
leakage from the dam and surface run off
from surrounding land.
Analysis-Access
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The heck at the
junction with the
Blackwater prevents
salmon access to the
Glascarnoch river. It
was constructed in the
1950s because no
compensation flow had
been agreed.
Analysis-habitat suitability
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By combining the
distribution of flow,
substrate types and
other habitat
parameters an
assessment of habitat
suitability was made.
Of the 60,975 sq m
wetted area 39,375 sq
m was suitable to
support Atlantic salmon
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Gla s c arn oc h.tx t
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no
ye s
Lc s loc h _c on .s hp
C eh0 5_c o n.s hp
14 - C ro m ar ty C oa s ta l
15 - R iv e r Aln es s
16 - R iv e r Gl as s
17 - R iv e r C on on
Analysis-potential
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To stock this area 170,000 salmon fry would
be required.
Taking the known smolt production from the
wetted area of the neighbouring River Bran
this should produce 2,300 extra smolts a
year.
This would give almost a 10% increase in
estimated production of the Blackwater.
Prescription
Issue
Agency
Works
Year
Cost
Access
for
smolts
Hydro
Provide
downstream
access at heck
2
£4000
Access
for
adults
Conon
DSFB
Not possible –
stock with fry of
Blackwater origin
1-6
£1500
Water
flow
Hydro
Short term don’t fix 1-6
leak. Long term
comp flow
£0
£?
Monitor
Conon
DSFB
Add to electro1-6
fishing programme
£300
Prescription-stocking
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Conon DSFB began
stocking in 2003 with
unfed salmon fry.
The parents of these fry
were caught in the
River Blackwater to
ensure genetic
suitability.
Prescription
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Hydro have provided
downstream access for
smolts by installing a
by-pass culvert at the
heck.
Monitoring
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Glascarnoch River
electro-fished to SFCC
protocol in August
2005.
Found good densities
comparable with best of
Blackwater sites
3.5 salmon fry /m sq
0.69 salmon par / m sq
0.19 trout / m sq
Application of Management Plan process
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This example is from a fishery management
project with the aim of sustaining salmon
stocks.
The same decision making process applies
equally well to managing hill loch brown trout
and char, protecting lamprey habitat or
monitoring the status of eels.
In many cases where little information exists,
the first phase of a plan will be to set out a
programme to collect the data which will be
needed for future management decisions.