Fish Counter Results for September : (see attachment)

The Ettrick count was well down for this month, at almost exactly half the average, which could be expected due to low water conditions. However, some 1500 then went up in the first four days of October, the most rapid passage we've seen yet, but without any real rise in the water.  This rush of fish also made it easy to do an efficiency check, watching the fish on the video and seeing how many of those going up were actually registered by the counter. This really needs large numbers of fish passing to do properly so these few days were ideal - and gave a 100% result. What may have made the fish get a move on was some cold nights as they also use water temperature as cue to tell them that spawning is coming on. Whatever the reason, it certainly made for good viewing at the Visitor Centre.

The Gala count continued to increase, despite the low flows. Obviously, as this is the first year, there is nothing to compare this year's counts with, nor has there been any long period of high water to really bring fish up.

Ronald N. B. Campbell

Tweed Foundation Biologist