Forestry and Land Scotland’s (FLS) river restoration efforts in Glen Prosen will benefit fish habitat and numbers, according to research carried out by the Esk Rivers & Fisheries Trust (ERFT).

In order to set a baseline against which to measure success, FLS commissioned EFRT to determine the current state of juvenile freshwater fish and invertebrate populations (their food source).

There were few barriers to fish movement and while in-stream habitat and water quality was found to generally good, low fish numbers were thought to reflect a lack of nutrients and invertebrates.

FLS Environment Forester Gareth Ventress said:

“This highlights and reinforces the importance and value of our river and burn restoration work in Glen Prosen. It will provide environmental benefits for fish in Glen Prosen and, by supporting larger populations of juvenile fish, potentially the wider River South Esk catchment.

“The baseline data will serve as a benchmark for comparing fish and invertebrate populations against future results following changes to how the land across Glen Prosen is managed.

“We recently completed putting up almost 14km of fencing to exclude deer and rabbits from sections of the riverbank to protect young broadleaved trees, supported by the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF). The NFR funding will also support extensive planting of over 14,000 native trees along the river and tributaries along the glen next year.”

Dr Craig MacIntyre from the Esk Rivers & Fisheries Trust said:

“The Prosen Water is an important tributary of the River South Esk in Angus – classified as a Special Area of Conservation for Atlantic salmon.

“With a decrease in Atlantic salmon numbers in the River South Esk over the years, land management measures that improve fish habitat in Glen Prosen could play a key role in protecting and improving the wild salmon and sea trout populations further down river and across the catchment.

“It is good to see FLS already adopting and working on our recommendations and we look forward to seeing the results in future.”

Planting or regenerating riparian broadleaved trees to provide additional shade and lower water temperature was also recommended, to further improve the chances of successful breeding. The fallen leaves will also provide nutrients to support mayfly larvae and other water invertebrates – the main food source of the juvenile Atlantic salmon and trout.