Almond Fly Sampling

At the end of 2007, two of the Club Members attended a River Fly Identification Workshop held at The Tweed Foundation hosted by Kenny Galt (Trout and Grayling Biologist) and Craig Macadam from Bradan Aquasurveys Ltd. The purpose of the day was to teach anglers how to take a basic kick sample and from this identify the general species found.

Since the workshops, these members have been carrying out monthly samples, recording the findings to compile a picture of how the numbers of invertebrates within the Almond change over the year. Gathering this information will help us understand the general health of the river. But additionally should the river suffer a pollution incident we will be able to sample and gauge the result against the annual record to determine the scale of any damage.

Members are welcome to come along to see how the kick sampling is done and see what was found. Those members that have already done so have been keenly interested in the wide variety and number of bugs that are in the river. If you would like more information, or would like to watch a sample being taken then please contact the Treasurer at treasurer@fishalmond.co.uk or the Secretary at secretary@fishalmond.co.uk.

The Riverfly Partnership – Monitoring Group

The club are actively looking at the possibility (subject to grant approval) of working with The Riverfly Partnership to establish a monitoring group for The River Almond system and would welcome any members to register their interest. Please note that no previous experience is required as full training and kit would be provided through the club. This is an ideal opportunity to learn about the invertebrates that inhabit our water system and improve your catch rate as a result.

Background

The Riverfly Partnership (RP) was formed in 2004 and brings together anglers, conservationists, entomologists, scientists, watercourse managers and government agencies to increase our knowledge of river fly populations and actively conserve their habitats.

One of the RP’s leading projects, launched in 2007, is the ‘Anglers Monitoring Initiative (AMI). The AMI enables trained volunteer groups to apply a simple monitoring technique to record the presence and absence of 8 invertebrate groups, 7 of which are river flies, to monitor the biological water quality of their rivers. The volunteer groups monitor their local rivers on a regular, often monthly, basis and if severe changes are detected a rapid response by the statutory bodies is ensured.

Please register your interest by contacting Jim Madden by the 31st May 2010.