Forth Fisheries Foundation

Assessing fish communities in stillwaters and deep river sections

There is no recent reliable data on the occurrence and abundance of fish species in standing waters in the Forth catchment area. These areas are extremely important resources for the local fishery interests and their fish communities and relative productivity needs to be included in wider management initiatives. Fish have been introduced to stillwaters and rivers over the years and as a result of this lack of recording, changes to the community can presently only be inferred. 

This project aims to provide important biological information on the fish communities in 9 standing water bodies in the Loch Ard Forest and Trossachs area and selected mainstem areas of the Rivers Forth and Teith. This baseline information will form the basis of a bi-annual monitoring strategy allowing changes through time to be recorded. Data will compliment others collected by the FFF and partner organisations on aquatic habitats to inform managers about the relative status of the fish stocks and potential for improvement and / or use.

Deep, slow flowing habitat is typical of the middle and lower -reaches of many rivers where gradients drop, and the river meanders through the valley floor. Such habitat typifies the section of the River Forth as it moves across the "Carse of Stirling" from Aberfoyle to the junction with the River Teith. This area is of considerable interest to coarse anglers and reputedly holds large populations of cyprinid fishes including roach, dace, pike and perch. Grayling have also been recently introduced to the system and have reputedly established successfully. 

Despite these important changes to the community, no assessment of the current fish assemblage in this section of the River Forth has been undertaken. Considering recent events and the potential for translocation (either intentional or accidental) of fish species between catchments, an adequate system to allow repeated monitoring of fish communities would be beneficial.

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