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The use of brushwood bundles as fish spawning media
Author(s) -
Nash K. T.,
Hendry K.,
CraggHine D.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
fisheries management and ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1365-2400
pISSN - 0969-997X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2400.1999.00153.x
Subject(s) - rutilus , laurus nobilis , perch , willow , biology , netting , tilia , fishery , botany , fish <actinopterygii> , pollen , essential oil , political science , law
Salford Quays is a redeveloped freshwater dockland, which initially constituted part of the grossly polluted Manchester Docks, Manchester, UK. Such water bodies are characterized by a lack of suitable spawning sites and littoral refuges, and this will act to reduce fish recruitment. To redress this, a variety of artificial spawning substrates were introduced to these waters. Spawning structures were made from bundles of different types of thin brushwood suspended from the dock walls. Roach, Rutilus rutilus (L.), spawned on bundles of willow, Salix alba (L.), and spruce, Pilea abies (L.), branches, whilst perch, Perca fluviatilis L., spawned on bundles of willow, sycamore, Acer pseudoplatanus (L.), spruce and plastic netting. Unused bundles were made up of lime, Tilia platyphyloss (Scop.), pear willow, Pyrus salicitolia (Pall.), and laurel, Laurus nobilis (L.). Perch spawning began around 20 May and showed a preference for open structures (between one and three ribbons per bundle). Roach spawning began about 10 days after perch and showed a preference for dense bundles of spruce (geometric mean egg density 1.5 cm − 2 spruce). The use of such structures in fisheries management is discussed.