A.D.A.A. Visit to the Don Hatchery

Background

22 ADAA members and friends visited the River Don's fish hatchery on upper Donside on Sunday 7 th November and were treated to a great presentation by river Superintendent Jim Kerr and his assistants Malcolm Webster, Stephen Murphy, Michael Beddie and Leslie Spaul all of whom are clearly dedicated to the fish and the well being of the river Don.

Process

I thought I would present the pictures I took of the visit in the form of a series showing the process Jim and his team follow to end up with trays of salmon, brown and sea trout eggs to enhance future generations and to keep us anglers happy people.

The Catch Process


At Bellabeg a section of the River Don is effectively separated from the main river and can be filled or emptied by means of a sluice. At the same time a grid traps the fish allowing them to be caught with large nets and transferred by suitable transport for the journey to the hatchery itself. It used to be done by electro fishing but this was stopped a number of years ago.

Preparation of Fish

The fish are not necessarily ready for "stripping" when initially caught and are therefore kept in an an adjacent stream until they are. This year, almost all the fish needed were caught within a very short period of time, indeed over 800 salmon were caught by this method this year which was excellent as far as the salmon runs were concerned. However, other fish, brown trout, some over 5lbs. and sea trout are also kept for stripping.

Stripping the Fish

Once the fish are ready they are carefully removed one by one. The hen fish first, and gently the the eggs are stripped into clean containers which have to be completely dry. If water is present at this stage the eggs will 'seal' prematurely and will not be fertilised. Next the 'cock' fish is stripped of its milt into the same container which is then swirled gently to mix both eggs and milt at which time 'life begins'. After 10 minutes or so water is introduced so the eggs seal and to clean them.

Over wintering

The fertilised eggs are then transferred to clean trays to start their steady growth over the winter. Care has to be taken with water quality, its taken from 500 yards away upstream, and filtered a number of times because of the silt from winter floods.

Eggs growth

The eggs grow steadily through the winter with the first signs being the black spots of the eyes appearing

The work of the Don Board must be commended for the effort that is put into put into the production of over 750,000 eggs of salmon, brown trout and sea-trout annually at the hatchery. The hatchery, which is supported by donation, brings the alevin on and distribute these to over 35 locations between May and September.. On behalf of the ADAA thanks once again to Jim, Stephen, Michael and Leslie for their help.

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