An analysis of salmon rod catch data from castle fisheries, River Derwent, 1923-1989.

The aim of this study was to investigate the historical catch record from the Castle Fishery on the River Derwent over the period 1923 - 1989, to determine if changes had taken place in the composition of the catch and to examine the influence of flow on the performance of the fishery. The River Derwent is situated in West Cumbria, North West England. It flows from its source on Scafell Pike (NGR NY 229 089) westwards discharging into the Irish sea at Workington, a distance of 52 km. Over its length it receives water from an additional 214 km of stream, 5 large lakes and approximately 30 small tarns. The catchment drains a total area of 663 km2. The study concludes that through the time period there was considerable variation in catch between years. The trend was for the catch to increase steadily over the period 1923 - 1958, declining rapidly in 1959, after which catches increased steadily reaching a peak in the mid-sixties, before declining towards the end of the decade. During the seventies and eighties catches remained relatively stable at between 300 - 600 salmon per year until 1988 when over 2000 salmon were reported caught, the greatest number in any year over the study period.

Derwent & West Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee 25th June, 1979.

This is the report from the Derwent and West Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 25th June 1979. The report contains sections on British Nuclear Fuels Limited abstraction from Wastwaters, Salmon Propagation in England and Wales, and its implications for regional hatchery policy, the incomes from sale of rod and line licences for 1978, and a progress report of the Opencast Coal Workings. It also covers the report by the area fisheries officer which looks at river conditions and fishing, fish distribution and general comments for Holmwrangle hatchery, re-stocking by angling associations, predators, fish disease, Yearl Weir fish counter, work at River Ehen, poaching and a summary of prosecutions. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

Derwent & West Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee 23rd June, 1980

This is the report from the Derwent and West Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 23rd June, 1980. It includes information on the investigations into the effects of sulphide pollution on the River Derwent and a summary of results of water samples taken from Lostrigg Beck. Also added is the report by the area fisheries officer on fisheries activities which comments on river conditions and fishing, migratory fish movements, and an update on Holmwrangle Hatchery. The report also includes biological work carried out on the River Esk, Bassenthwaite Lake, and fish mortalities. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

Derwent & West Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee 8th October, 1979.

This is the report from the Derwent and West Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 8th October 1979. The report contains sections on the minutes of the last meeting along with the minutes of the meeting of the Regional Fisheries Advisory Committee held on 12th July 1979, information on the British Nuclear Fuel Limited abstraction from Wastwater, the application to abstract water from the River Ehen by Dumfriesshire Limestone Company, and oil pollution of the Rivers Keekle and Ehen. Also included is the report by the area fisheries officer which looks at river conditions and fishing of salmon, sea trout, non migratory trout and coarse fishing, migratory fish movement, pollution incidents and fish mortalities. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

Derwent & West Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee 7th January, 1980.

This is the report from the Derwent and West Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 7th January 1980. The report contains sections on net and fixed engine licence duties, pollution incidents on the River Cocker and Wilton Beck, and information on the water resource development for West Cumbria. It also includes the report by the area fisheries officer which looks at river conditions and fishing, migratory fish movement, and an update on Holmwrangle Hatchery. Also covered is the stocking carried out by the Water Authority, fish disease and biological work on Ennerdale Water supply and char marking. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

Derwent & West Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee 31st March, 1980.

This is the report from the Derwent and West Cumbria Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 31st March 1980. The report contains sections on the minutes of the meeting held on 24th October 1979, rod and line licence duties, information on salmon coops on the River Eden and River Derwent, net and fixed engine licence duties and fishery byelaws. It also includes the report by the area fisheries officer which looks at river conditions and fishing, general comments on fish stocks at Holmwrangle Hatchery and biological work on Ennerdale char and the River Esk salmonid survey. Also covered is the monthly salmon and sea trout catches for the 1979 season. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

Argumentation of the River Derwent using Thirlmere

This is the Argumentation of the River Derwent using Thirlmere produced by the Cumberland River Authority in 1972. This report focuses on the augmentation of the River Derwent by a limited discharge from the Thirlmere Reservoir in short terms. A Working Party of officers from both the Authority and the Corporation was established and experimental releases of water from Thirlmere were made in dry periods in order to assess more clearly their effect upon river flows, and on the level of Bassenthwaite Lake. This report contains the Working Party's evaluations, conclusions and recommendations.

Effects of water quality in Bassenthwaite Lake on anglers' catches of salmon and sea-trout in the River Derwent

This is the report on the Effects of Water Quality in the Bassenthwaite Lake on Anglers Catches of Salmon and Sea-trout in the River Derwent April 1993 by the Institute of Freshwater Ecology. An analysis of the catch statistics for salmon and sea-trout in the Rivers Derwent and Cocker was undertaken in relation to available information on the algal water quality in Bassenthwaite Lake to test the hypothesis that poor catch returns were associated with a deterioration of water quality within the lake. Analysis of the catch statistics failed to reveal any correlation between water quality and catch returns for either species of fish and it is concluded that any water deterioration in Bassenthwaite Lake has not caused any major damage to the salmon and sea trout fisheries of the Derwent/Cocker system. This conclusion is supported by the analysis of the Windermere/Leven and Crake system, where no correlation could be found between lake water quality and downstream catches of migratory salmonid fish. However, the possibility still exists and such an effect might be detected by further field work on the macroinvertebrates and on the composition of potential salmonid spawning in the area.

The floods of the Lake District - Part I

This report summarises the annual rainfall of the River Derwent catchment area and examines the floods of 1931 and 1932. The author uses data from the Meteorological Office to examine if the floods were extraordinary and takes into account local lakes in reducing the magnitude of the flood. Areas that are presented in more detail are Bassenthwaite Lake, Thirlmere, Cockermouth, Keswick, Newlands and Coledale Beck. (PDF contains 38 pages)

An analysis of migratory salmonid catch effort data, derived from anglers' log books, 1991

1000 log books were issued to anglers of which 236 were returned, those from the rivers Derwent, Kent, Lune and Ribble accounted for the vast majority. The Derwent had the highest catch rate of these rivers: one salmon every 13.89 hours followed by the Lune, Kent and Ribble at 16.39, 18.87 and 35.71 hours, respectively. For sea trout the Lune, Derwent and Ribble had a catch rate of approximately one fish every 10.0 hours (9.8, 10.0 and 10.64 hours),and for the Kent one fish per 16.1 hours fished. Salmon angling visits were, in general,longer than those for sea trout being between 2 and 6 hours as opposed to 2 to 4 hours. On the majority of visits (>80%) no fish were caught and was the same for salmon and sea trout. For salmon the majority of fish were caught on fly, spinner or worm, and the least on prawn. For sea trout fly predominated. The majority of salmon caught were less than 91b in weight and were presumed to be grilse (1 sea winter). The majority of the sea trout caught weighed between 1 and 31b. The pattern of catch, effort, CPUE, abundance and catchability for salmon and sea trout were modelled using the data from the rivers Derwent, Kent and Lune. Flow significantly influenced catch, effort and catchability of salmon which had entered in a particular month. For sea trout flow was not significantly correlated with any of the dependent variables. The catchability coefficient for salmon, determined from the total number of fish, remained relatively constant over the period June to October indicating that CPUE was a reasonable measure of within season abundance. This was not found to be the case for sea trout.

Summary of fishery statistics, 1987

This fisheries report summarises developments of the year 1987 in the region of the North West Water Authority. It provides catch statistics, rod and line and commercial for salmon and sea trout, fish culture and hatchery operations, restocking with trout and freshwater fish, upstream fish movement recorded at authority fish counters, counts of salmon and sea trout spawning redds, fish mortalities, licences issued, and prosecutions. Among the streams that are covered in the report are the River Lune, River Kent, River Leven, River Duddon, River Ribble, River Wyre, River Derwent and River Esk.

Summary of fishery statistics, 1988

This fisheries report summarises developments of the year 1988 in the region of the North West Water Authority. It provides catch statistics, rod and line and commercial for salmon and sea trout, fish culture and hatchery operations, restocking with trout and freshwater fish, upstream fish movement recorded at authority fish counters, counts of salmon and sea trout spawning redds, fish mortalities, licences issued, and prosecutions. Among the streams that are covered in the report are the River Lune, River Kent, River Leven, River Duddon, River Ribble, River Wyre, River Derwent and River Esk.

Summary of fishery statistics 1989

This fisheries report summarises developments of the year 1989 in the region of the North West Water Authority. It provides catch statistics, rod and line and commercial catches for salmon and sea trout, fish culture and hatchery operations, restocking with trout and freshwater fish, upstream fish movement recorded at authority fish counters, counts of salmon and sea trout spawning redds, fish mortalities, licences issued, and prosecutions. Among the streams that are covered in the report are the River Lune, River Kent, River Leven, River Duddon, River Ribble, River Wyre, River Derwent and River Esk.

Summary of fishery statistics 1990

This fisheries report summarises developments of the year 1990 in the region of the North West Water Authority. It provides catch statistics, rod and line and commercial catches for salmon and sea trout, fish culture and hatchery operations, restocking with trout and freshwater fish, upstream fish movement recorded at authority fish counters, counts of salmon and sea trout spawning redds, fish mortalities, licences issued, and prosecutions. Among the streams that are covered in the report are the River Lune, River Kent, River Leven, River Duddon, River Ribble, River Wyre, River Derwent and River Esk.

Summary of fishery statistics 1991

This fisheries report summarises developments of the year 1991 in the region of the North West Water Authority. It provides catch statistics, rod and line and commercial catches for salmon and sea trout, fish culture and hatchery operations, restocking with trout and freshwater fish, upstream fish movement recorded at authority fish counters, counts of salmon and sea trout spawning redds, fish mortalities, licences issued, and prosecutions. Among the streams that are covered in the report are the River Lune, River Kent, River Leven, River Duddon, River Ribble, River Wyre, River Derwent and River Esk.