Today, staff from the Słupia Valley Landscape Park, together with our ichthyologist, carried out a fish catch as part of the annual monitoring of the spawning of migratory salmonids, which is undertaken by the Institute of Inland Fisheries. In Słupsk itself, catches were made at two locations where we have been observing salmon spawning in autumn for several years. At an artificially created spawning ground on the mill canal, we managed to catch over a dozen wild salmon fry, which indicates that spawning of this species was successful last autumn. In addition to the small salmon, a large number of sea trout fry, grayling, legal-sized brown trout, burbot, gudgeon, lampreys and individual perch, roach, as well as ruffe and eel were also caught at the 50-metre site. At the second site, located downstream of the weir on Nad Śluzami Street, where last autumn Paweł Vogelsinger captured our salmon spawning on high-quality video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kjgm8fLC2_I) only two wild salmon fry were caught. Despite many years of observing adult salmon spawning at this site, this is the first time in history that its effectiveness has been confirmed, although, as can be seen from the number of fry, the results are negligible. Judging by the results of the catches, the initiative to construct spawning grounds by piling gravel on the riverbed – which serves as a substrate for lithophilic fish to lay their eggs – makes sense.
Photographs by W. Sobiegraj.
