December Counter Results

Ettrick : As the attachment shows, there were the usual 50 or so fish for December. The total for the year, minus June and July is not a good one. The missing months, would on average mean another 350 fish which would bring it up to equal the previous low in 2004. The very wet summer might have meant more fish than usual going up in July but this cannot be assumed.

One feature that is coming out in the analysis is the unusually big number of large trout in 2007 - fish of 60 to 80cms in length, hundreds more than have been seen before.

Gala :  Some fish did go up the Gala in December as well, but given the dry Autumn this may not be a regular feature. Analyses of the sizes of fish is still going on, but it looks as if many of the fish counted will have been Brown-trout.

There is something of a problem still with the Gala counter - fish sitting in the scanner and not moving through quickly and this may be affecting the numbers of fish counted, possibly by around 200 or so.

R. Campbell

Attachment.