Monday 3rd May:  Admin, reading journals and preparation for a couple of talks later in the week, then out with Niall to download the automatic listening station at Philiphaugh. The Ettrick above the bridge in Selkirk is as low as I think I have ever seen it, there's no Salmon going to go through that little water. Connect the listening station onto a laptop and a quick scroll through the data shows that 5 or 6 of the smolts released on Friday have passed already, though one is still in the pool where the station is located. Went back up to the fish farm to check the release site, but found nothing remaining there, so all 16 have gone downstream. There was a lot of data on the recorder, so it will need to be checked in the office to see exactly which fish have gone past. Given how low the river is, I was surprised that any had got that far so soon - some went through yesterday. The station at Philiphaugh is the "Starting Post" for tracking them downriver. Handling and operating on such small fish obviously carries the risk of damage, so the idea is that the river from the fish farm to the Philiphaugh station will be a sort of "test" area, in which any damaged fish will succumb, leaving only the fit ones to be tracked down the main river.  

Tuesday 4th May: Preparation of the talks I'm giving over the next two days & various bits of writing. In the evening, help Kenny at the smolt trap, but not much in it.

Wednesday 5th May: At the ASFB workshop of stocking and stocking policy at Dunkeld, at which I gave a paper on why we don't  stock on the Tweed and on the sheer power of natural reproduction that Salmon have, something that is very often overlooked, though it is very obvious for anyone who knows anything about Salmon. Other presentations, from Lochaber, the Moray Firth and the Tay covered what they did and why they had to go down the stocking road due to their different problems. Another chance to hear the sad story of the West Coast salmon and their extermination by the salmon farming industry & more on the very frightening development of resistance by Sea-lice to chemical treatment in Norway. If that develops it will leave Sea-lice free to finish off what is left of the salmon and Sea-trout of the farming areas.

Thursday 6th May: Niall reports another tagged smolt has arrived at Philiphaugh. While four have passed on, two are still sitting around above the cauld in the deep water. Ten are still to make it that far. In the afternoon, off to Girvan to give a talk at the AGM of the Stinchar Board.

Friday 7th May: See around the Stinchar with my colleague from the Ayrshire Rivers Trust. It's always interesting and educational to see the situation of other rivers and how they tackle their issues. On the Stinchar, its gravel movements that are the major issue and was shown a most amazing shingle bank off the mouth, which creates a channel a mile long that the river runs along parallel to the coast before breaking out into the sea.