Mawddach Hatchery update 2006-2007

March 14, 2007

Mawddach Hatchery has just begun its 20th year of production.  Since the Hatchery commenced operations in the Spring of 1987, the Hatchery has developed a reputation for producing high quality juvenile salmon and sea trout.  Over the last twenty years there are many anglers who are able to say they have caught a salmon or sea trout that has been tagged, in other words, is a fish that has been produced at the Mawddach Hatchery.

There have been a number of successes in the last twenty years. The development of semi-natural smolt release sites, where a large number of the Hatchery fish are stocked before release to the river, have certainly increased the number of returning adult fish.  In the last two years the Hatchery has been developing a captive breeding programme to try to save the endangered fresh water pearl mussel (margaritifera margaritifera). To date this breeding programme has been a major success, with nearly 70,000 juvenile mussels already being grown at the unit.  With climate change and its consequences capable of affecting us all Mawddach Hatchery has in the last three years reduced its energy consumption by approximately 30%.

As salmonid rod catches (in particular Sea trout) continue to decline Nationwide, it is more important than ever that the Mawddach Hatchery and others like it, can produce large numbers of high quality wild salmonids to help boost the numbers of salmon and sea trout in our rivers.

This article will report on the number of ova laid down last Autumn, and outline its current rearing contracts, and numbers of fish to be stocked out this year. The freshwater pearl mussel breeding programme will also be discussed, and some other new and planned developments for the Hatchery will be mentioned.

Table 1    2006 rearing schemes and ova laid down.

Currently Mawddach Hatchery has a number of rearing schemes, producing Salmon and Sea trout. These are listed as follows;

The Mawddach Hatchery has a number of rearing schemes covering a number of different rivers throughout England and Wales. The income provided from these schemes is important for the future of the Hatchery.

In Table 2  the projected production and subsequent numbers of fish that are going to be stocked out from the ova intake of 2006 are shown. It must be emphasised that these figures are estimated from previous years output, and may change from the numbers listed.

Table 2        Projected production of fed fry, 0+Parr, Smolts, with stocking location for 2007-2008