15.01.2018
Bericht von der Tagung des Fachbeirats im September 2016
Beobachtung von Fischwanderungen in Rhein und Maas
Andre Breukalaar stellte Technik, Einsatzorte und einige Ergebnisse aus seiner Arbeit mit dem NEDAP-Trailssystem in Rhein und Maas vor. Schon seit vielen Jahren werden stark automatisierte Beobachtungen mit dem NEDAP-Trailssystem durchgeführt. Dieses System ist im Unterschied zu anderen Techniken speziell darauf ausgerichtet, in grossen Flüssen noch gute Erkennungsraten von Sendesignalen zu erhalten. Die Techniken, die üblicherweise anhand von in Fischen implantierten Sendern genutzt werden, können in den unteren Bereichen von grossen Flüssen selten eingesetzt werden, weil durch den hohen Trübstoffgehalt und Leitwert, sowie die Geräuschentwicklung des Schiffsverkehrs die Signale anderer Systeme schwerlich zu empfangen sind.
Für die Nutzung dieser Technik sind auf dem Gewässergrund von Maas und Rhein an den Untersuchungsstellen schwere Antennenkabel verlegt worden. Diese Antennen können die Signale von mit Sendern ausgestatteten Fischen empfangen, wenn diese darüber schwimmen. Diese Signale werden dann automatisch an einen Rechner, der die Daten verarbeitet, übertragen. Somit ist Andre Breukelaar jederzeit in der Lage, sich ohne grossen Aufwand einen Überblick über die Fischwanderungen an den Untersuchungsorten zu machen. Aufgrund der Grösse der Sender ist die Nutzung auf grössere Fischarten beschränkt. Grosse Sender in zu kleinen Fischen würden das normale Verhalten der Fische zu stark beeinflussen.
In seinem Vortrag zeigte Andre Breukelaar am Beispiel der Wehranlage mit Wasserkaft in Linne an der Maas, dass die Sterblichkeit von jungen Lachsen (Smolts) bei der Wanderung ins Meer stark erhöht ist. Sowohl direkt an dem Hindernis als auch 15 km danach war die Sterblichkeit deutlich erhöht. Grund hierfür waren Raubfische und zu einem nachgewiesen grossen Prozentsatz Kormorane.
Der komplette Vortrag ist hier zufinden.
Die Übersicht über alle Präsentationen des Fachbeirates finden sie hier.
13.12.2017 Aukrug / Schleswig-Holstein
Decades of committment for Salmon and Sea trout honoured
Since the end of the 70ties Hartwig Hahn had been committed to the reintroduction of Atlantic Salmon and Sea Trout. This year he has now been awarded this great honor. In his early years he was engaged in the Lower-Saxony fisheries. Now he has been working for the “Landessportfischerverband Schleswig-Holstein” for a long time.
He was one of the first to take care of the reintroduction of Atlantic Salmon and Sea Trout in Germany. For many years he has kept good contacts to the Swedish Rivers Lagan and Gotaälv. Also in Germany Hartwig Hahn is very well known far beyond the boundaries of Schleswig-Holstein.
Hartwig Hahn 1982 at his hatchery in Aukrug - photo archive LSFV Niedersachsen
He was one of the founders of the “Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Fischarten und Gewässerschutz in Norddeutschland (AFGN)“ (workgroup for fish species and waters protection in Northern Germany), which set the impetus for other migratory fishes projects to commit themselves to migratory fishes in the same manner. „Wanderfische ohne Grenzen – NASF D e.V.“ congratulates on this more than deserved honor and is very proud to have Hartwig as a member of its Advisory Board – a man of competence and action.
Hartwig Hahn at his hatchery - photo Stefan Ludwig 2011
Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein Torsten Albig hands over the "Bundesverdienstkreuz" to Hartwig Hahn - Foto courtesy of Hartwig Hahn
10.11.2017 Stepenitz / Brandenburg /Germany
Record Numbers of Returning Salmon and Seatrout in Tributary to River Elbe
Mid November I was invited to visit the electro fishing for spawners at River Stepenitz/Perleberg/ Germany.
Returning Salmon and Seatrout where to be caught for artificial spawning. The fish gathered at a weir in the City of Perleberg, that is still not equipped with a fish migration aid of any kind. Fish cannot pass this migration obstacle.
At this day we were able to catch 13 Salmon and 16 Seatrout, all beautiful fish. Some of the Salmon and Seatrout though had skin abrasions that they most likely acquired while trying to pass the weir flap underneath. Other fish showed injuries probably caused by fishing nets.
River Stepenitz flows through City of Perleberg in Brandenburg, Northeastern Germany. After passing Perleberg the Stepenitz flows into River Elbe. This year already 28 Salmon and 172 Sea Trout could be caught until middle of November. Record numbers compared to the 15-years-average of 19 Salmon and 59 Sea Trout annually. The fish are being marked with floytags and transported to the nearby hatchery of the association "Fliegenfischerverein Fario". After spawning they will be released to the Stepenitz again.
The reason for the good numbers are ascribed to high water levels of the rivers this year due to a rainy summer season.
Since 2012 the fraction of Salmon returners that originate from natural spawning amounts to at least 21%. 79% are ascribed to stocking of hatchery fish. The percentage of returning fish with reference to the number of sea migrating smolts amounts to 0,3-0,8%. A fraction of 3% is regarded necessary to establish a self sustaining spawner stock.
The Project „Lachse in Brandenburg“ under guidance of the "Instituts für Binnenfischerei e.V." gets technical and organizational support of the "Landesfischereiverband Brandenburg" as owner of the fishing rights and sponsor. The objective of the Project is to reintroduce both species in self reproducing and stable stocks that will also allow exploitation by fisheries.
Still there is a number of unsolved problems:
- Missing permeability of the migration routes between the Sea and the spawning habitats. Despite a certain progress some migration obstacles like weirs and hydropower stations are still not equipped with migration aids of any kind.
- Oxygen deficient stretches of water in River Elbe near Hamburg
- Missing of gravel beds for spawning due to sedimentation and impoundments
- Predators - fish eating birds and mammals as well as carnivorous fish species
- Illegal fishery at impoundments
- Killing of spawners by netting and recreational fishery
- Survival at Sea
Armin Weinbrenner - Wanderfische ohne Grenzen – NASF D e.V.
27. October 2017
Salmon smolt migration: Zero percent loss by hydropower – yet minimum 12,8 percent smolts lost on a single migration obstacle!
How can that happen? The Hydropower station at the “Unkelmühle” on River Sieg (tributary to River Rhein) has been equipped with a 10mm vertical grill to prevent salmon smolt from entering the hydropower station. However the loss of smolt turned out to be considerably increased in the waters in front the impoundment and the stretch of the river below being affected by the hydropower plant in comparison to a naturally flowing stretch of the river. The renowned Norwegian NINA Institute in close cooperation with the University of Cologne provided scientific evidence. The studies were carried out in 2014 and 2015.
The reason for the smolt losses was found to be considerably increased predation by piscivorous fish in the head- and tailwaters of the installation and additionally by cormorants in the tailwaters.
This number of losses on a single obstacle is not tolerable. In the Netherlands for a comparison the demand is a maximum loss of 10 percent in the complete chain of impoundments along an entire river.
The consequence that has to be drawn from the point of view of migratory fishes can only be to remove as many as possible man-made impoundments instead of manifesting their existence by planning of new hydropower locations.
Please find the mentioned report on Unkelmühle here: http://forum-fischschutz.de/sites/default/files/NINA_Smoltreport_1203_0.pdf
23. Oktober 2017
Radio-tagged Sieg salmon in control station Buisdorf
Is it a fish from a telemetry project ?
In the past days a special salmon was caught in the control station in the river Sieg (NRW, GER). The fish measuring 65 cm had a implanted radio transmitter. Most probably the radio-tagged salmon returner originates out of a group of smolts that were experimentally stocked at the hydropowerstation Unkelmühle in NRW for a functional control of this pilot site for fish protection. An exact identification is being conducted at the time being. It would be a nice proof for this method for being relatively fishfriendly that even allows the fishes returning into their homewater.
The photos were kindly supplied by Armin Nemitz from the Wanderfischprogramm (program for migratory fishes) in NRW.
Should there be readers that catch or find similiar fishes with tags, coloured dots or transmitters it would be very kind to report that to the NASF Germany. Projects that are working with fish tagging are thankful for every hint ob the fate of tagged fishes.
It is a goal of the NASF Germany to build up an network for such information.
8. Oktober 2017
Die ersten Lachse Sind DA !
So früh wie noch nie sind die ersten Lachse in Sachsen zurückgekehrt
Dies teilte das Sächsische Landesamt für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie (LfULG) heute in Dresden mit. Erste Anhaltspunkte für den Beginn des herbstlichen Aufstiegs in die Laichgewässer der Oberen Elbe hätte der spektakuläre Fang eines Lachsrogners Ende August in der Elbe bei Bad Schandau geliefert. Der am 26. August mit der Angel gefangene Lachs war 95 Zentimeter lang und wog 7,7 Kilogramm.
Die Fischereibehörde des LfULG baute daraufhin sofort ihre automatische Kontrollstation (Fischcounter) im Lachsbach ein. Über die Datenerfassung in der Station sowie die Internetverbindung zur Fischereibehörde in Königswartha kann das Aufstiegsverhalten der Lachse durch die Experten jederzeit aktuell eingeschätzt und bewertet werden. Am 26. September wurde so gegen 23:44 Uhr die erste Passage eines Lachses erfasst. Er konnte per Videosequenz als Milchner bestimmt werden. Ein derartig früher Beginn des Laichaufstiegs im Lachsbach ist seit dem Beginn der Wiederansiedlung und den ersten Rückkehrern im Jahr 1998 noch nie beobachtet worden. Der Fisch blieb kein Einzelfall. Am 3. Oktober führten kräftige Regenfälle zu einem spürbaren Anstieg der Abflussmengen im Lachsbach: um 23:32 Uhr wurde der zweite und heute (6. Oktober, 04:21 Uhr) bereits der dritte Lachs erfasst. Damit konnte der in diesem Jahr sehr frühe Lachszug in die Laichgewässer bestätigt werden. Das Laichgeschäft selbst hat allerdings noch nicht begonnen. Dazu müssen die Wassertemperaturen auf etwa sieben Grad Celsius fallen. In Abhängigkeit der Witterungsbedingungen kann sich das Ablaichen von Mitte Oktober bis Mitte Dezember erstrecken.
Den Fischereiexperten zufolge würden diesen Hebst nicht nur im Lachsbach und anderen Flüssen der Oberen Elbe Lachse auf den Laichplätzen erwartet. Erstmals seit über hundert Jahren sei durch die Schaffung von Fischaufstiegen in Sachsen-Anhalt auch wieder der Zug in der Mulde bis nach Sachsen möglich. Gleiches gelte für die Pulsnitz in Königsbrück. Mit der Fertigstellung einer Fischaufstiegsanlage am Wehr in Kroppen (Land Brandenburg) können die Lachse jetzt stromaufwärts bis zu ihren historisch belegten Laichplätzen in Sachsen schwimmen.
Hintergrund Kontrollstation:
Die Vorteile der automatischen Kontrollstation gegenüber den wöchentlichen Befischungen liegen klar auf der Hand. Nahezu alle bislang erfassten Wanderbewegungen der Lachse erfolgen in der Nacht, in der Vor-Ort-Befischungen mit Personal nahezu unmöglich sind. Die technische Perfektionierung der Laichfischerfassung verringert den manuellen Aufwand beim Lachs-Monitoring deutlich, ohne dass die Qualität der Datenerfassung leidet. In Abständen muss die Anlage gewartet und kontrolliert werden. Dabei wird der Unterlauf des Lachsbaches auch auf mögliche Laichgruben überprüft.
1.Juli 2017
Orri Vigfússon
Orri Vigfússon, founder and chairman of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF) has passed away.
The great Godfather of Atlantic Salmon has left us.
It has been Orri’s objective to bring back Atlantic Salmon stocks to historic abundance.
He has been pursuing this goal since 1989 buying out netting quota in the North Atlantic. This commercial approach has always been the core element of his work. The idea is to preserve the livelihood of netsmen and the stocks of Atlantic Salmon and enable long term positive effects on fisheries and tourism also of rural and less structured regions.
Apart from his work in the Oceans Orri specifically built up partner organizations in countries where the Atlantic Salmon migrates for spawning. Around the North Atlantic there are now local partners of the NASF. In Germany this is the association “Wanderfische ohne Grenzen”.
Much too early Orri has left us. We will carry on fighting for the reintroduction of the Atlantic Salmon to our rivers in his sense.
An obituary written by Rudy van Dujinhoven gives an insight in life and work of Orri Vigfússon:
Orri Vigfusson has successfully orchestrated an international effort to conserve and restore the wild Atlantic salmon.
Orri Vigfússon was an Icelandic entrepreneur and environmentalist.
His objective was to "restore the abundance of wild salmon that formerly existed on both sides of the North Atlantic". In 2004 Time Magazine named him a "European Hero". He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2007 for his efforts on saving endangered species.In 2008, he was elected as a Senior Global Fellow to the Ashoka Fellowship.
Orri has in recent years led development of sustainable salmon angling in the rivers of Vopnafjörður, Island. Orri Vigfússon passed away on the 1st of July, 2017.
Before settling on salmon protection, Orri went through a wide range of business experiences, testing and honing his entrepreneurial spirit. He studied international business in London, and when he returned to Iceland he set up the country’s first Toyota importing business, gaining practical experience in international trade.
His next role was with the Federation of Icelandic Manufacturers, looking for products and markets that would support cottage industries throughout the country. Perceiving a market for high-quality woolen goods, Orri spent several years helping communities establish small industries producing sweaters and the like to feed strong demand in the United States and Europe.
In 1966, Orri had his first experience with the Atlantic Salmon. His wife, who was also from a small town in northern Iceland, brought Orri to fish along the Laxa River, famous for its salmon runs.
In his first fishing trips, Orri was hooked. He kept on angling, and in 1984 was elected chairman of the Laxa Fishing Club. From this position, the declining numbers of wild salmon returning to the river was obvious.
In 1989, to celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary, Orri launched a campaign to end mixed-stock fishing off the Icelandic coast. The idea was to buy into Iceland’s system of tradable fishing quotas for conservation purposes. Believing that the fish could now feed in the sea unmolested, the club released fish tagged with their river of origin, but none returned. The tags, however, were coming back—from fish processing plants in Greenland and the Faeroe Islands.
Realizing that salmon conservation could not succeed from within any single country, Orri founded the North Atlantic Salmon Fund, which is already working to apply the same basic approach on a multinational scale.
In 1989, Orri Vigfusson realized that saving wild Atlantic salmon would require an international citizen-led program to make market forces work for, rather than against, conservation.
Orri proposed that citizen groups throughout the North Atlantic approach their governments and the fishing industry with a plan that would rescue both the disappearing fish and the struggling fishermen who depend on them: buy out fishing rights, stabilize the salmon population, and establish salmon as a valuable resource whose protection would bring income to rural areas throughout Europe and North America.
At the time, Orri had been involved in local conservation on the Big Laxa River in northern Iceland. He realized that no matter how effective his local efforts were, they could not ensure the survival of salmon. Even when they are well protected in their rivers, the fish are often caught as they venture out to open sea. Orri knew that people throughout Europe, Scandinavia, and North America were also trying to restore and protect wild salmon, yet nothing seemed to work.
It was an important moment. The salmon industry was changing. The Atlantic catch had been on the wane for decades. Large fish farms were stepping in to maintain the supply. The remaining small and medium fishermen were squeezed between a dwindling resource and stiff competition from their larger competitors.
Orri founded the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF) to manage an international program of action that starts with the commercial buyouts of drift nets, draft nets, and almost all coastal fishing operations throughout the North Atlantic. The fund creates a common agenda among river conservators, anglers’ associations, landowners along rivers, and scientists. Together with NASF they raise private money and lobby governments for political support and financial investment for Salmon conservation.
The fund has organized partners in 15 countries, supporting the financial, legal, and political aspects of the buyouts. Orri has helped broker salmon buyouts in all key countries. Protecting salmon in the open ocean takes the pressure off the species, but it is just the first step in Orri’s vision.
The next move will be to develop local economic incentives to make salmon a lucrative natural resource through activities such as catch-and-release sport fishing, related tourism, and branding of local salmon products.
For Orri, salmon conservation is a driving force for improvement of the economic health and security of rural communities.
01.6.2017 Glitschige Geschäfte - Die Aalmafia (slippery deals - the eel mafia)
The dramatic decline of the european eel (Anguilla anguilla) population has led to the EU-protection guidline. The film in german TV "Glitschige Geschäfte - Die Aalmafia"
engl.: slippery deals - the eel mafia which will be be broadcasted in the german "ZDF" on 4.6.2017 at 4:30 pm shows an essential reason for this decline. further information you may find here. (only in german language)
10.5.2017 Animation showing Eel Migration
The fantastic journey of European Eel and the factors of influence on their migration
...are being presented in a very beautiful way in this animation which has been awarded by the Belgium Sea Institute. Pieterjan Verhelst has created this video trying to give the wider public an undestanding of the magnificent lifecyle of European Eel. At the same time it also shows the factors that influence the decline of Eel populations and how his scientific research tries to help Eel management using telemetry.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YQVgl3QPyY&list=PLIFvvLeEE2QROOjJ58ZNspR3Kv5aIZvzA&index=2
28.4.2017 Tagging of Twaite Shad
Very vulnerable fish species tagged successfully
Pieterjan Verhelst reports the successful tagging of Twaite Shad (Alosa fallax), a fish species which is closely related to Allis Shad (Alosa alosa). After the fish had been equipped with acoustic transmitters the migrations of these fish could be studied for quite a long period of time. In River Schelde in Belgium and in the Wadden Sea this species could be found more often again in the last few years. With the knowledge about the migrations of these fish it is expected to gain deeper insight on how this species could be supported even better. Please find a report on this issue hier ...
Twaite Shad with a transmitter in the dorsal area. Should anybody discover a fish equipped like this, please send information to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
19.4.2017 Orri Vigfusson writes letter to Theresa May
NASF Urges Prime Minister to Act on Atlantic Salmon
In a letter to Theresa May this month, Orri Vigfusson, the tireless campaigner for wild Atlantic salmon in his role as chairman of the North Atlantic Salmon Fund (NASF), urged the British Prime Minister to invoke article 66 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which places the emphasis for safeguarding anadromous stocks on the state that houses the rivers of their origin.
The move is intended to help protect endangered Scottish Atlantic salmon stocks that face a “substantial commercial fishery that operates in the coastal waters of North East England” and “flies in the face of the warnings of international scientists against operations that target mixed stocks of salmon” on their journey from the sea back to their spawning grounds in Scottish rivers.
Orri Vigfusson, chairman of NASFVigfusson suggests invoking an immediate suspension on operating licences for the English coastal nets as an obvious first step as part of a number of actions that England can undertake to “put things right.”
In a separate letter sent at the same time to First Minister for Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, and informing her of his letter to the Prime Minister, Vigfusson points out that over the last 50 years, the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), has registered a 96% drop in reported wild salmon catches in Scotland and that “Scottish fishery science and management methods have not been successful in preserving and rebuilding your salmon numbers.”
He ends with an offer to meet at any time of their choosing to deliver the full details of the proposals that NASF experts have drafted for an effective strategy for salmon and Scotland.
We can only hope they are willing to listen for the sake of the wild Atlantic salmon and their survival in this part of the world.
12.03.2017
Report from the Meeting of the Advisory Board in September 2016
The European Aquatic Animal Telemetry Network –
Dr. Jan Reubens University of Gent/Belgium
Fresh winds from Belgium!
Jan Reubens of the University of Gent presented the European Aquatic Animal Telemetry Network (EAATN).
The guideline of the meeting of the Advisory Board in Siegburg was the transregional and transnational exchange of information about fish telemetry.
To the great surprise of participants as well as organizers this concept has been put into action already to a large extent in Belgium.
This approach is extremely important for migratory fish species. The diadromous migratory species at least (migrating between fresh and salt water) are known to regularly leave the main area of fish monitoring while migrating and there is little data available on their further migrations routes.
The approach of a "European Telemetry Data Network" could be a quantum leap when it comes to answering questions about the migratory behavior of individual fish and the factors that take influence on it.
According to Jan Reubens an array of transmitters has been installed in the Belgian part of the North Sea with the objective to track cod migration. This way the development of the cod population should have been investigated. An interesting discovery was that cod actually aggregate around offshore windmills. Even more surprising was the scientific finding that cod spend winters in the Schelde estuary. A fact that according to Jan Reubens had been known to anglers already much longer...
196 acoustic listening stations (ALS) have been installed in Fresh and Sea Waters in and around Belgium, being able to watch a great number of fish species while migrating.
Apart from that the EAATN communicates with the Canada based global platform called „Ocean Tracking Network (OTN)“.
At this time the network is based on data that have been generated with the acoustic telemetry technology of the Canadian company Vemco. Jan Reubens pointed out though that the network is also open to other sources of data also from other projects.
The advantages are obvious: A European Eel for example was tracked from the Dutch part of the Dollart (mouth of River Ems) right to the mouth of River Schelde in Belgium (400km).
Without a telemetry network this migration would have remained concealed like probably most of the others.
This integrative approach also offers a good opportunity for the many migratory fishes projects to gain additional information about migration routes of the fish especially outside their actual project area.
Projects that are interested in cooperation with the EAATN may contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. directly.
Please find the complete presentation hier.
An overview of all presentations can be found hier.
02.03.2017
Report from the Meeting of the Advisory Board in September 2016
Reintroduction and conservation of migratory fishes by LFV-Weser-Ems e.V.
Dr. Jens Salva
Dr. Jens Salva started with a historic review with reference to today's activities. The historic numbers of Atlantic Salmon caught in Rivers Weser and Ems are strong evidence for the former abundance of this species. In modern times, since 1978 people have been working on the reintroduction of Salmon. A report published in the 35 / 2000 edition of the German weekly journal „Spiegel“ titled „Schöner als jedes Märchen“ (meaning: More beautiful than any fairy tale) could be regarded as a milestone for public relations in this field.
Jens Salva himself has been involved in reintroduction projects in the Weser-Ems area since the age of twelve (!). Apart from intensive public relations activities his focus lies on the improvement of disturbed river structures and the linear permeability for aquatic animals. In younger days the measures taken for the developement of waters have been intensified in cooperation with local anglers.
The migratory species they are working with are Atlantic Salmon, Sea Trout and Houting. The Rivers are Delme, Hunte, Ems, Hase, Leda and Jümme with their tributaries.
The stocking programs are accompanied by different kinds of monitorings. Returners, caught by electrofishing are being PIT tagged and registered.
Additionally the fish movement in front of fish pass entrances are monitored using a "Didson" underwater sonar. There has also been a trial to accompany salmon smolts by means of a floating cage into the Wadden Sea bypassing the estuarine nets.
Jens Salva mentioned as major problems: too narrow riparian strips, cattle tracks affecting river banks, too rough river maintenance and a lack of linear permeability of the rivers.
There's some very intensive and encouraging activities with respect to the ecodesign of waters. To adjust the transport of sand in the river they try to connect the alluvial meadows and forests to the river dynamics and to remove the still predominant trapezoid bank profiles. This way at certain points very beautiful and gravelly, natural strips of water have been created. Jens Salva points out that these isolated activities have to be extended to an area-wide scale. The pace of the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive is regarded as being clearly too slow.
Please find the complete presentation here .
An overview of all presentations of the Advisory Board can be found here.
14.03.2017
The report on the Salmon season in Saxony for 2016 is now available:
...please check:
04.01.2017
Report published by the German magazine "Fliegenfischen 6/2016" about the situation of wild Atlantic Salmon in Norway - by Manfred Raguse
With eyes open into the decline!
Picture by coutesy of "Fliegenfischen 6/2016"
The German magazine "Fliegenfischen" published an article about the threats to wild Atlantic Salmon populations in Norway imposed by Netcage Salmon Farming in its June edition 2016.
The report is a must-read not only for Salmon Conservationists but also for consumers of Salmon products.
"Fliegenfischen" kindly gave us permission to publish this article.
Please find here the critical preface of chief editor Michael Werner as well as the article itself by Manfred Raguse.
