ONE hundred tiny salmon are being released into the River Tamar today (Thursday).
The fry are being released this afternoon by Environment Agency staff in a stream near Tavistock.
Fisheries staff see the exercise as a triumph for their 'egg box' trial — a safe, semi-natural, low- cost approach to fry production that will increase salmon stocks in rivers where problems affecting spawning are currently being tackled.
'The egg boxes closely mimic the natural conditions for salmon eggs on a river bed, but with some added comforts to help boost the numbers that finally hatch,' said an agency spokesman. 'Clean river water is allowed to pass over the eggs and the box filters out the silt that often smothers the eggs in the wild.'
The project was a big team effort involving local anglers and farmers. The fishers donated adult salmon, which were kept in tanks, and their eggs harvested before being placed in the boxes on the river bank.
The local farmer allowed the stream to be fenced to keep livestock out of the water and to encourage bankside growth to create a first- class habitat for the young fish.
The scheme has shown a 90 per cent success rate and it is hoped it will replace the current system which is labour intensive and expensive.