Please send your answers to fisheryinformation@nethan-valley.co.uk. Correct entries will be given a prize and a day's VIP treatment at the Hatchery. (Winners will need to be accompanied by a parent or guardian).
CHILDREN'S COMPETITION TIME
It's getting to that time of year when the frogs will be spawning and some people may still try to take it home with them. This competition is for three age groups; Under 5's, 5 - 10 year olds and 11 - 15 year olds. When you click on the following link, a picture will open up and you have to find four frogs and a mouse. We hope that you find it difficult to find them because that is how it is in the wild.
Click here now!
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Frog, toad, and newt numbers are in serious decline as are the numbers of reptiles. Many people collect the spawn of frogs and toads to watch them developing in an artificial environment. It was popular many years ago to have some frogspawn in a jar or small tank in the classroom.
Please note that it is ILLEGAL to take spawn or any of the following species listed below away from their NATURAL HABITAT and HEAVY FINES can be imposed if the APPROPRIATE LICENCE is not obtained to keep the relevant specimen. Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora ("CITES") & Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (United Kingdom) |
Reptiles and amphibians included in this schedule are as follows, click on the Common Name link for more information: -
Please DO NOT take any of them away from their natural homes;
LATIN NAME
COMMON NAME
Sadly many of these mentioned on the left are losing their natural habitat due to one reason or another and photographs are an excellent way of capturing wildlife.
WILDLIFE IS FOR ALL TO ENJOY,
NOT THE ODD ONE OR TWO.
Vipera berus
adder (Scotland)
Natrix natrix
grass snake
Coronella austriaca
smooth snake
Rana temporaria
common frog
Bufo bufo
common toad
Bufo calamita
natterjack toad
Lacerta agilis
sand lizard
Lacerta vivipara
viviparous lizard
Anguis fragilis
slow worm (classed as lizard)
Triturus cristatus
great crested newt
Triturus helveticus
palmate newt (Scotland)
Triturus vulgaris
smooth newt
February 2005
We have finally managed to track down evidence of Salmon in the River Nethan prior to the construction of the SEPA Gauging Station and it is written in the paragraph below. This may be of help to anyone doing future research, it took us months to find it and we would hate anyone else to have to go through the same.
| In the Nethan and Logan, as well as the rivers by which the parifh is bounded, are found plenty of trout and filver eel. Salmon, alfo, from the Clyde, go up the Nethan, and even to the Logan, in the month of Auguft, and fpawn there; but a cruive now put acrofs the mouth of the firft, obftructs them greatly, and is likewife thought to have diminifhed the number of trouts. |
October 2004
January 2004
Adverse weather has prevented similar surveys to be done in the lower section of the river but as soon as an opportunity arises the lads will be out and about again carrying out observations. Hopefully all the hard work carried out removing most of the blockage in the gorge will have paid off and that salmon will have been successful in spawning in the river once again. If any salmon redds are seen we will update information accordingly.
The S.E.P.A. gauging station has been visited on several occasions over the past month and observation carried out to see if any fish could make it over the structure. Jim Delaney and Colin Meikle spent over an hour at the location on Wednesday 27th October. During this period of time, 100 attempts were made by trout trying to ascend the structure, none of which were successful. The site was revisited on Saturday 30th October and the obstacle filmed; once again no fish were successful in their attempts to ascend the structure although many fish were seen trying. A copy of the video footage has been sent to Dr Steve Anderton of S.E.P.A.
The River Management and Research teams have been out on the river banks in the upper catchment and have witnessed a lot of trout redds. One set of redds measured over 9metres in length and was over 1.5 metres wide, which would tend to suggest that several fish had laid their eggs in this area.
March 2005
We thought that you would like to see our newly appointed River Manager, Big Wull Addie, getting to grips with his new job. Big Wull had an early bath whilst checking an area of the River Nethan that is prone to blockages.
We feel that he is taking his job too seriously but that Big Wull's dedication deserves recognition and that the World Wide Web should know (but don't tell Big Wull!).
How about sending in suitable (keep it clean now!) captions for this photo and the Association will put up three FREE memberships for the best three entries.
To see what the difference is, please scroll down to the July section to view the pictures of the work carried out back then.
Our biggest worry in the rivers at the moment, is the amount of aquatic insects that we will have lost due to eggs being left high and dry, due to exteme drought conditions. This will probably have a knock-on effect on the rest of the food chain next year.
July 2003
June 2003
Blockage Report. We have been busy with lots of research on the river. We Electro-fished a repeat site above the blockage in the gorge and, no surprises here, we did not find any salmon juveniles, which confirms our fears that the blockage has stopped adults ascending the river last year. We do not know what the resulting impact will be, as this may take a year or two to filter through but we will be keeping an eye on things. Once the water levels improve, we will be removing the blockage fully.
25th May 2003
Work finally began on the serious blockage within the Nethan Gorge. The team got off to an early start, meeting at the location at 07:45am (while the Webmaster was still tucked up safely in his bed, sleeping - he got the easy part of the job - updating the webpage - haha!!). The work party was a combined effort from three Angling Associations, these being U.C.A.P.A. Ltd., Douglas Water and Nethan Valley.
The river was running high but it was decided to make a start in clearing the blockage(left pic is the first cut of debris). During the operation, two members of the work party involuntarily took a cold bath, but they shall remain anonymous to spare their embarrassment. (Please note: the Webmaster was still dry!!) (right pic could include the annonymous bathers whilst removing debris). Other team members found that they too were becoming wet, due to wading a little too deep or that they were wearing waders which leaked.
After four hours of VERY hard work, 25% of the blockage had been removed to create a passage for fish (pic on left is the channel being created). It was decided that the remainder of the blockage would be tackled when the river had dropped to a more favourable height.
Many thanks to John, Jim, Tom, David, Alex, Rab and young Scott, for their often heroic efforts on the day. Our only wish is that the video camera had been running when the team members took to the water like a pair of bricks!. Perhaps we could have won a few quid for the funds from "You've Been Framed!" As you can see from the photographs, the task of removing the detritus (pic on right is the impact we have made to date) is not an easy one with the materials being stacked on the left bank to create habitat for other wildlife.
10th May 2003
During a survey of the bottom section of the River Nethan, a major landslide was discovered. Several very large boulders had fallen into the channel resulting in a partial blockage (Picture on left). Ensuing spate conditions have exacerbated the problem causing a major buildup of logs and debris. This blockage stands at least 8ft above the river surface and at least 4ft below. It was impossible to determine if fish could gain safe passage at the time, but it is doubtful. The riparian owner on the right bank was contacted with a view to securing access permission to remove the blockage. Permission was given in writing to the Association. Immediate action is required at this location and a plan of attack has already been swung into action. We will keep you updated of progress. The picture on the right is the upstream side of the blockage.
November 2003
The team who were five U.C.A.P.A. Members and a Contractor, plus J. Delaney from the N.V.A.A. spent 4 hours cutting away and burning more of the blockage at the Nethan Gorge. This will have to be monitored to make sure that over the winter months and spate conditions no more debris blocks the work already done. Mr Delaney has mentioned that the team shall make another few vists to cut and burn more away to make the passage for fish easier than it already is. The above work was carried out in October (2nd visit) and the 1st visit was back in July.
September 2003
The complete length of the Teglium Burn and 75% of the Birkwood Burn that fish can access, have been cleared of blockages, with current deflectors having been constructed to lessen bankside erosion at problem points. Once again the bulk of the work was carried out by our JUNIOR MEMBERS, Scott Delaney, Scott Connachan, Chris Fraser and non-Member Jim Stewart (Many thanks to Jim for giving up his spare time to help us out and muck in). We also had help, that was very much appreciated, from William Young (78), (78? - Never! Can't be right!. Must be a misprint! You're not that age William!), of Lesmahagow, who showed the young Bucks how to work.
We visited the blockage on the night scheduled and managed to make quite an impression on it. Approximately 50% remains but fish now have a fairly easy passage. (See left pic) As we removed light debris, we found large boulders and roots that were difficult and time consuming to remove (see right pic). Some of the roots were so big it took all the team a lot of time and effort to move them in the difficult conditions. This did not help with the laughter about our nearly synchronized diving team! (see picture and story below)
There was a slight change to the team on the night, but one of the original members decided to repeat history and landed on his backside in the water, (we gave him marks out of 10 for "Style" and "Content" of his solo dive, but unfortunately he only got a dismal "2"), so I promised not to name Alec, but what the hell, I think the whole world should know about his dedication as he carried on regardless once again. (See pic on left) What a trooper! Due to the amount of detritus being removed and nowhere to put it, it was decided to burn it under controlled conditions (see pic on right). This meant that there would be no danger of the flotsam being washed further downstream and causing further blockage. The fire was welcomed by Alec, who managed to dry out a bit. The actual blockage was also put to the torch in an attempt to get rid of most of the tree materials in situ. Further visits will be required to complete the task.
Hopefully we are going back into the gorge on Thursday night (26th June) to clear more of the blockage. This is due to water levels reducing. Perhaps we will have more manpower too (duck impressions will be marked out of 10..anyone caught cheating or bringing their water wings will receive "Nil Points"!)
Update regarding the Hatchery - the fry are growing at a phenomenal rate and are doing well. Work on the new circular tank has been suspended due to inclement weather and the blockage on the River Nethan.
ATTENTION ALL ANGLERS! Please click on the fish and read. We hope to find a few of these fish when we begin electro-fishing surveys, but we feel that our Members should also be involved. So hopefully, someone may be lucky enough to catch one of the tagged fish.
The photograph above demonstrates how bad human influence has on our rivers. This was taken at John Street, Blantyre, South Lanarkshire and shows the banks of a feeder Burn adorned with sanitary towels and other nasty items.
This pollution was the result of overloaded sewer pipes, overflowing and running out of storm drains into the Burn. Thousands of these items entered the main river, the Clyde, and can be seen adorning the bushes and trees lining the riverbank. This incident was reported to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency who took swift action. These types of incident are not isolated and happen every time there is torrential rainfall.
We would ask any female visitors to our site to be careful in the way they dispose of sanitary items - please BIN them rather than flushing them down the toilet. Guys, you can do your bit too - BIN those used condoms and Mums, NO disposable nappies or cotton buds please. THIS LITTLE ACT WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT. All of these items block intake screens at the Sewage Treatment Works causing a buildup of untreated sewage, which then causes manhole lids to blow allowing raw sewage to escape.
The Research Team is now visiting schools in the North and South Lanarkshire areas, speaking to the pupils on the importance of keeping our rivers clean and clear of litter and other pollutants. Some of the pupils take part in aquatic invertebrate surveys and a few small parties have visited the Hatchery/Research Unit that is located near Lesmahagow.
Other forms of river pollution exist, but not to the extremes of the above. Over the past few weeks, some members have been out on river walks and found the river to be polluted with what society now calls "fly tipping". THIS IS ILLEGAL and does pollute the river. Please use the appropriate waste disposal sites that your Council provide. Your Council may also uplift items (for a small charge), from your doorstep, as in this day and age there is no excuse for "fly tipping" in our rivers.
A considerable amount of money and time has been spent by S.E.P.A, volunteer associations and Angling Clubs (ourselves included), to clean, stock and advise on how to improve our river system. With our rivers clean and restocked with fish, this will help tourisim in the area which brings more money into the local economy - PLEASE DO NOT SPOIL THIS NATURAL BEAUTY, IT IS THERE FOR EVERYONES ENJOYMENT.
Website by
W Rankin in conjunction with Nethan Valley Angling Association