MORFISH
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Monitoring for Migratory Fish |
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Research
Context and Issues
For the past 40 years, data on salmon and other migratory fish have been collected on the Frome River in Dorset (UK) and the Scorff and Oir Rivers in Brittany (France). These rivers provide key information on the status of migratory fish stocks in their regions. Importantly, these data feed into an international network of Index Rivers that reports to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea ICES, providing advice to governments on the current status and management of migratory fish stocks.
The MorFish project enables our teams to collect data in a similar manner, to analyse data in unison, and to provide a better understanding of the drivers behind changes in populations of migratory fish.Objectives
Scientists and technicians from GWCT and INRA collaborate to deliver three key objectives on the Frome, Scorff and Oir Rivers:
- standardise and examine long-term salmon and environmental data sets
- standardise data collection methods for salmon
- generate management advice for monitoring mullet and sea lamprey
Methodology
Historical salmon population dynamics will be reconstructed using a Bayesian salmon life cycle model. Models will include extrinsic factors hypothesised to affect salmon abundance (e.g. water temperature, flux or sediment load) to evaluate their role in reconstructing salmon population changes. Stephen Gregory, a post-doctoral fellow, will perform this research with scientists from INRA and GWCT.
Both GWCT and INRA invest significant resources each year to collect data on migratory fish species including salmon, lamprey and mullet by trapping, electrofishing and tagging individual fish. To standardise methods, the MorFish project is investing in Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) and Passive Intergrated Transponders (PIT) to monitor individual fish life histories on the Scorff, Oir and Frome Rivers. Bastien Sacré, an electronics engineer, will select and install the appropriate equipment in the MorFish rivers with assistance from GWCT and INRA technicians.Expected Results
Deliverables of the MorFish project are to provide Atlantic salmon life cycle models for the 3 rivers, compare historical changes in population dynamics between rivers, set up RFID systems on river catchments, and improve understanding of life cycles of migratory fish species to provide management advice.Publications issued from the project
ROUSSEL, J.-M. NEVOUX, M. MARCHAND, F. JEANNOT, N. (2015) .La migration des saumons adultes sur l'Oir et le Scorff (France)
ROUSSEL, J.-M. NEVOUX, M. MARCHAND, F. JEANNOT, N. (2015) .Le suivi des juveniles de saumon sur l?Oir et le Scorff (France)
ROUSSEL, J.-M. NEVOUX, M. MARCHAND, F. JEANNOT, N. (2015) .La migration des saumons adultes sur l?Oir et le Scorff (France)
NEVOUX, M. (2015) .Apport des donnees individuelles a la modelisation des populations
People involved
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BESNARD Anne-Laure, Technician Phone : +33 2 23 48 54 43 Email : anne-laure.besnard(at)inrae.fr |
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GREGORY Stephen, Scientist Phone : +44 1 929 401 882 Email : sgregory@gwct.org.uk |
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HUTEAU Dominique, Scientist Phone : +33 2 23 48 54 42 Email : dominique.huteau@inrae.fr |
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NEVOUX Marie, Scientist Phone : +33 2 23 48 50 15 Email : marie.nevoux@inrae.fr |
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RIVOT Etienne, Scientist Phone : +33 2 23 48 59 34 Email : etienne.rivot@institut-agro.fr |
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ROUSSEL Jean-Marc, Scientist Phone : +33 2 23 48 57 75 Email : jean-marc.roussel@inrae.fr |