The influence of three methods of gravel cleaning on brown trout, Salmo trutta , egg survival

Siltation of spawning gravels in upland rivers appears to be an increasing hindrance to salmonids' spawning success. River managers seek an effective and non-labour intensive means of loosening gravel and reducing fine material, so improving spawning success; this study compared three practical gravel cleaning techniques, applied at realistic (rather than intensive) levels, by assessing survival to hatching of buried brown trout, Salmo trutta L., ova at five sites on four rivers with gravel substrate in southern England. Each site consisted of six reaches, of which three were cleaned by tractor rotovating, high pressure jet washing and pump washing; these were compared with adjacent, untreated reaches. Brown trout ova were buried in both fine mesh and coarse mesh boxes in each reach. Significant improvements (at P