Midwinter Migration of Bream Abramis brama (L.)Author(s): Christopher MoriartySource: The Irish Naturalists' Journal, Vol. 20, No. 11 (Jul., 1982), p. 505Published by: Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25538643 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 04:11

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Irish Naturalists' Journal Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The IrishNaturalists' Journal.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.158 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:11:26 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Ir. Nat. J. Vol. 20 No. 11 1982 505

CHOUGH SURVEY 1982

In April, May and June of this year there is to be a joint IWC/BTO/RSPB census of the chough. The last comprehensive survey was in 1963, which showed there to be no choughs left in England, 11

pairs in Scotland, 20 pairs on the Isle of Man, 100 pairs in Wales and up to 700 pairs in Ireland.

Nobody knows how the bird has fared since then. Recent research suggests that the fate of the

chough is closely linked to changes in traditional farming methods in its coastal haunts. It is hoped that

the present survey will show how the chough population stands at present and record land use patterns

throughout its breeding range. To do this thoroughly we require information on any past or recent

breeding sites in order to prepare a list of areas to be covered. We also seek volunteers prepared to

walk those coastal and mountain areas, to locate pairs and flocks this summer. If you can provide any information on chough breeding and feeding sites, or know of any local observers who may be keen to

help, please contact:?

Chough Survey, c/o IWC, Southview, Church Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow, Eire.

Chough Survey, c/o RSPB, Belvoir Park Forest, Belfast, N Ireland.

MIDWINTER MIGRATION OF BREAM ABRAMIS BRAMA (L.)

Two large bream, estimated as greater than 30cm in length, were captured and released from eel

nets on the River Shannon at Killaloe on 1 January, 1982. The water temperature was 4?C and the

previous night, during which the nets had been in fishing position, had been frosty and clear. The

bream were caught in two of the six nets which I had seen in operation. The nets at Killaloe are

designed to fish for eels in the course of their downstream migration and are conical in shape with the

aperture facing upstream. The bream must therefore have been travelling downstream.

I have watched eel fishing at Killaloe in late autumn in the course of 10 out of the 14 seasons since

1968. Small perch Perca fluviatilis L. are regularly present as by-catch. Trout Salmo trutta L. and

pollan Coregonus albula (L.) are caught occasionally but I had never previously seen bream. When I

remarked on the supposed rarity of bream in the nets the fishermen told me that they were plentiful "at

this time of year'* and might be caught in every second net. My past visits to Killaloe had taken place

mainly in October and November, only three times in December and never later than 17 December. It,

therefore, seems that I had arrived too early in the season to see the bream.

The migration of bream in the Shannon System has been studied by Whelan (In press: Royal Irish Academy National Committee for Biology Seminar on Advances in Fish Biology in Ireland) who

has recorded journeys of up to 59 km. Migration downstream past Killaloe would bring the bream to

the man-made Parteen Storage Basin (300 ha, maximum depth 6m) and possibly further downstream

to the headrace canal leading to Ardnacrusha or over the Parteen weir to the lower reaches of the River

Shannon.

Department of Fisheries & Forestry, Fisheries Research Centre, Abbotstown, Castlenock, Co Dublin.

CHRISTOPHER MORIARTY

TURTLES IN CO WEXFORD

There appears to be only four records of turtles reported stranded or captured in Co Wexford. All

of these took place on the south coast.

Loggerhead Caretta caretta (L.). 1. Kilmore Quay, stranded October 1953 (O'Riordan, C. E. 1972. Proc. R. Ir. Acad. 72B: 253-274).

Leathery turtle Dermochelys coriacea (L.). 2. Baginbun Head, captured 8 August 1949 (O'Riordan op. cit.). 3. Off Duncannon, captured 14 July 1976 (Parker, M. and Farrell, D. 1977. Ir. Nat. J. 19: 51). 4. Off Great Saltee, captured 12 September 1981, details below.

On Saturday 12 September 1981 Mr Tom Walsh and his son Phillip found a large turtle tangled in

the buoy lines of their train of lobster pots set off the Great Saltee Island (X 9597), Co Wexford. I

showed Mr Walsh and his son photographs of all seven species of the turtle illustrated by Bustard

(1972. Sea turtles. Collins, London) and they immediately recognised their catch as a luth or leathery turtle Dermochelys coriacea. They said the turtle "was over five feet long" and was attended by a

lone fish which from discussion appears to have almost certainly been a pilot-fish Nacrautes ductor

(L.).

This content downloaded from 195.34.79.158 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 04:11:26 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions