salmon return to tolka

cameramonkey

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0928/salmon.html

good news, cleaner water combined with drift net ban is now having an impact.

This may sound completely stupid but why are they there? Don't they go back to where they were born?

John_Rambo

Good point! Primordial memory?

cameramonkey

maybe they have been released as smolts in the tolka by some agency.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Deleted User wrote: »

This may sound completely stupid but why are they there? Don't they go back to where they were born?

Good question. A very high proportion of Salmon are able to locate their river of origin and return there for breeding, but others don't and often end up in different rivers or rivers nearby.

Connacht

Well blasht it anyway, I wanted to ask that question ...
But since you've answered, Srameen, then I guess the follow-up question is : how is this known ? (that "others don't and often end up in different rivers or rivers nearby")

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Tagging!!

Connacht

Cool, thank you.

Half-cocked

Tolka Anglers release a lot of trout into the river. I'd be interested to know if they released salmon or if this is a natural occurence.

LostCovey

If you think about it, any site-faithful migrant (e.g. swallow) depends on a small % going "astray" to a different breeding site - otherwise the stock would be destroyed by inbreeding.

Also, without this phenomenon, salmon would never have left a single river system they evolved in.

I don't believe this is based on releases (ie a ranching project), I am sure these are Boyne/Liffey/Dargle salmon that have bred in the Tolka.

LC

round tower huntsman

excellent news.