Langcliffe hatchery investigations 1982 [on River Ribble near Settle]

Langcliffe hatchery investigations looks at fish mortalities for salmon (fry), sea trout, brown trout and rainbow trout, and explores the River Ribble's water supply.

River Wyre - a migratory salmonid river

This report has been prepared in response to a request from the National Rivers Authority. It produces a broad assessment of the River Wyre as a migratory salmonid river based on a site visit and the documentation provided, and looks at objectives of the Wyre salmon and sea trout restoration group. It also looks at ways for habitat improvement and recommends other possible means of fisheries management development for the River Wyre.

Central area fisheries annual report 1994

The purpose of this report is to record key events/data and to outline the activities of the NRA Central Area Fisheries Function during 1994. The Rivers looked at include the Ribble, Lune, Hodder and Wyre. The issues that the report looks at includes Hydrological and meterological data, catch data for salmon and sea trout, fish kills, and fish stocking. It also lists the Micro-tag returns for 1994 and the six key objectives that the Central Area Fisheries Function has set itself for 1995. The report uses a range of different graphs and tables to display their data.

Central area fisheries annual report 1995

The purpose of this report is to record key events and achievements of the NRA Central Area Fisheries Function in 1995. Rivers include the Ribble, Hodder and Lune. The report looks at Hydrological and meteorological data, site visits made during the year, communications and reports, Capital works and purchases, Stock assessment, monitoring and specific investigations, Fisheries Management advice, Fish kills and rescues, Fish rearing and stocking. It also looks at rod and net catches for salmon and sea trout, micro-tag returns, the drought, the results of the 1995 objectives set the year before and the key objectives for 1996.

Central area fisheries annual report 1996

The purpose of this report is to record key events and achievements of the NRA Central Area Fisheries Function in 1996. Rivers are Ribble, Hodder and Lune. The report looks at Hydrological and meteorological data, site visits made during the year, promotional events that it was involved with; communications and reports, Capital works and purchases, Stock assessment, monitoring and specific investigations, Fisheries Management advice, Fish kills and rescues, Fish rearing and stocking. It also includes catch data for net and rod catches for Salmon and Sea trout; the results of the objectives made last year and key objectives for next year.

A coarse fish close season on canals. Paper in evidence to the review of fisheries policy and legislation. Paper number: EA-12

This paper gives the results of the Environment Agency's research into the canal close season to the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Review Group. It presents the findings of the research, explains why the research was undertaken and how it relates to the Agency's duties. The background for this report includes that angling representative bodies have long argued that the existing situation in which somecanals have a close season and others do not, is unsatisfactory.

The calibration of a semi-quantitative approach to fish stock assessment in the North West Region of the NRA

(1) A total of 45 sites was sampled, each being fished using the semi-quantitative and quantitative techniques. (2) A significant relationship existed between the semi-quantitative and Quantitative results for all age groups of salmonids (R2 83.4% to 96.1%, p < 0.0001). (3) The results from each site were categorised according to an existing classification system for quantitative and semi-quantitative data. The semi-quantitative component of this system was modified using the results of this investigation. The degree of error associated with sites classified semi-quantitatively was found to be slightly less when using the modified system for 0+ salmon, > 0+ salmon and 0+ trout, ranging from 10.5% to 30%. (4) Insufficient data points were available for the analysis of coarse fish data.

NRA North west salmonid microtagging programme 1987-1994

The microtagging programme began in 1987 using hatchery reared salmon originating from the rivers Caldew and Hodder and subsequently included the Lune (1988) and Ribble (1989). Microtagging of sea trout began in 1991 for the Lune and in 1993 for the Hodder. The report explores the NRA North west salmonid microtagging programme looking at methods, results and recommendations. The report provides salmon microtagging data and returns from 1987 to 1994.

Electrofishing, survey of Skirden and Swanside Beck August/September 1987.

As a follow up survey, the report assesses Skirden and Swanside Beck (North West England) in order to determine: 1. The status of these systems as salmonid nursery streams. 2. The success of planting with salmon fry and parr, carried our earlier in the year. The report gives methods, results, a summary and the author's recommendations.

Description of NRA tracking studies: tracking techniques and fish counter technology

The study began on the 7th January 1991 and was completed in June 1991. Two reports have been produced. This report published as R&D Note 33 describes NRA tracking studies, tracking techniques and fish counter technology. The second report published as R&D Note 34 evaluates NRA tracking studies and recommends future research. The latter will be used solely for NRA management purposes. This report briefly outlines the programme of the NRA, placing the Fisheries programme in the context of the work of the NRA as a whole, and viewing the tracking work against the broader requirements of the NRA Fisheries research programme. Two techniques currently exist for studying the detailed timing and extent of movements of adult salmon: tracking of individually identifiable fish, and counting the numbers of fish moving past a fixed point in the river. Further details of these techniques and their development are given in Sections 2 and 3. Section 4 summarises and assesses completed and current NRA tracking Studies. Complete project descriptions for the studies are contained in Appendix A. Section 5 discusses the scientific content of these studies in relation to similar work carried out elsewhere in the UK. Section 6 details the future development of tracking techniques. Tracking work on migratory salmonids has tended to concentrate largely upon the movements of adult salmon. Much of this report will therefore be concerned with salmon tracking studies. NRA studies involving sea trout are referred to where appropriate. The methodological problems of sea trout tracking studies are summarised in Section 2.1.3.

River Ribble sheep dip incident September 1997. Electric-fishing survey report

This report summarises the findings of a series of electric-fishing surveys carried out at four sites on the River Ribble from September 1997 to September 1998. The aims of these surveys were to assess the impact on juvenile salmonids of a pollution incident involving Synthetic Pyrethrin (SP) that occurred near High Birkwith I (SD 802 767) in September 1997.One of these sites was 2.65km upstream of the pollution whilst the remaining three were at varying distances downstream. Data was collected during surveys of the River Ribble in 1992, 97 and 98. The 1997 and 1998 surveys were carried out specifically to monitor for any possible effects of the SP discharge. Data are shown as grades derived from the National Fisheries Classification scheme (NFC). Results are given for the four salmonid life stages; 0+ trout, >0+ trout, 0+ salmon, >0+ salmon and also Total Salmonids.

Diets of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) in Southeast Alaska, 1993−1999

The diet of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) was determined from 1494 scats (feces) collected at breeding (rookeries) and nonbreeding (haulout) sites in Southeast Alaska from 1993 to 1999. The most common prey of 61 species identified were walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), Pacific sand lance (Ammodytes hexapterus), Pacific salmon (Salmonidae), arrowtooth flounder (Atheresthes stomias), rockfish (Sebastes spp.), skates (Rajidae), and cephalopods (squid and octopus). Steller sea lion diets at the three Southeast Alaska rookeries differed significantly from one another. The sea lions consumed the most diverse range of prey categories during summer, and the least diverse during fall. Diet was more diverse in Southeast Alaska during the 1990s than in any other region of Alaska (Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands). Dietary differences between increasing and declining populations of Steller sea lions in Alaska correlate with rates of population change, and add credence to the view that diet may have played a role in the decline of sea lions in the Gulf of Alaska and Aleutian Islands.

Stanford University’s John Otterbein Snyder: Student, Collaborator, and Colleague of David Starr Jordan and Charles Henry Gilbert

John Otterbein Snyder (1867–1943) was an early student of David Starr Jordan at Stanford University and subsequently rose to become an assistant professor there. During his 34 years with the university he taught a wide variety of courses in various branches of zoology and advised numerous students. He eventually mentored 8 M.A. and 4 Ph.D. students to completion at Stanford. He also assisted in the collection of tens of thousands of fish specimens from the western Pacific, central Pacific, and the West Coast of North America, part of the time while stationed as “Naturalist” aboard the U.S. Fish Commission’s Steamer Albatross (1902–06). Although his early publications dealt mainly with fish groups and descriptions (often as a junior author with Jordan), after 1910 he became more autonomous and eventually rose to become one of the Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus spp., experts on the West Coast. Throughout his career, he was especially esteemed by colleagues as “a stimulating teacher,” “an excellent biologist,” and “a fine man.

The Ragfish, Icosteus aenigmaticus Lockington, 1880: A Synthesis of Historical and Recent Records From the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea

Knowledge of the distribution and biology of the ragfish, Icosteus aenigmaticus, an aberrant deepwater perciform of the North Pacific Ocean, has increased slowly since the first description of the species in the 1880’s which was based on specimens retrieved from a fish monger’s table in San Francisco, Calif. As a historically rare, and subjectively unattractive appearing noncommercial species, ichthyologists have only studied ragfish from specimens caught and donated by fishermen or by the general public. Since 1958, I have accumulated catch records of >825 ragfish. Specimens were primarily from commercial fishermen and research personnel trawling for bottom and demersal species on the continental shelves of the eastern North Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea, and the western Pacific Ocean, as well as from gillnet fisheries for Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus spp., in the north central Pacific Ocean. Available records came from four separate sources: 1) historical data based primarily on published and unpublished literature (1876–1990), 2) ragfish delivered fresh to Humboldt State University or records available from the California Department of Fish and Game of ragfish caught in northern California and southern Oregon bottom trawl fisheries (1950–99), 3) incidental catches of ragfish observed and recorded by scientific observers of the commercial fisheries of the eastern Pacific Ocean and catches in National Marine Fisheries Service trawl surveys studying these fisheries from 1976 to 1999, and 4) Japanese government research on nearshore fisheries of the northwestern Pacific Ocean (1950–99). Limited data on individual ragfish allowed mainly qualitative analysis, although some quantitative analysis could be made with ragfish data from northern California and southern Oregon. This paper includes a history of taxonomic and common names of the ragfish, types of fishing gear and other techniques recovering ragfish, a chronology of range extensions into the North Pacific and Bering Sea, reproductive biology of ragfish caught by trawl fisheries off northern California and southern Oregon, and topics dealing with early, juvenile, and adult life history, including age and growth, food habits, and ecology. Recommendations for future study are proposed, especially on the life history of juvenile ragfish (5–30 cm FL) which remains enigmatic.

William Francis Thompson (1888–1965): a Preeminent Fishery Biologist of the Early and Mid Twentieth Century

William Francis Thompson (1888–1965) was a preeminent fishery scientist of the early to mid twentieth century. Educated at Stanford University in California (B.A. 1911, Ph.D. 1930), Thompson conducted pioneering research on the Pacific halibut, Hippoglossus stenolepis, from 1914 to 1917 for the British Columbia Provincial Fisheries Department. He then directed marine fisheries research for the State of California from 1917 to 1924, was Director of Investigations for the International Fisheries Commission from 1924 to 1939, and Director of the International Pacific Salmon Fisheries Commission from 1937 to 1942. He was also Director of the School of Fisheries, University of Washing-ton, Seattle, from 1930 to 1947. Thompson was the founding director in 1947 of the Fisheries Research Institute at the University of Washington and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1958. He was a dominant figure in fisheries research of the Pacific Northwest and influenced a succession of fishery scientists with his yield-based analysis of fishery stocks, as opposed to studying the fishes’environment. Will Thompson was also a major figure in education, and many of his former students attained leadership positions in fisheries research and administration.