A NEW study of salmon stocks in the River Tamar has revealed good news about fish numbers, the Environment Agency this week revealed. The results of the Tamar Index Monitoring report for 2005 gives the river a clean bill of health, revealing a significant improvement in fish life and river habitat, with salmon numbers improving since the last survey in 2004. Robert Hillman, ecological appraisal technical specialist for the Environment Agency in Cornwall, said: ?Our work and the partnership projects provide information of national importance to salmon and sea trout conservation which will ensure that fish stocks, river and lake environments are being safeguarded for the future. ?A net limitation order preventing estuary netting and the returning of fish to the river after being caught by rod anglers will give salmon and sea trout a greater chance of reproducing in the Tamar. ?We would also like to encourage more fishermen to take part in the logbook scheme, which provides us with useful information on the fish they catch and where and when they fish.? It is estimated that 5,724 adult salmon returned to the Tamar in 2005 ? 17.5 percent higher than in the previous year. Salmon and sea trout trapped for sampling purposes ranged in length from 50cm to 88cm and weighed between 2lb and 15lb. More than 64 percent of sea trout were maiden fish, returning to the river to spawn for the first time. The rest were larger fish that had returned to spawn on at least one previous occasion.