Dave Clarke from Swansea University will be presenting on ‘Gathering Evidence of Fish Behaviours in Severn Estuary’.
Since 2019 Swansea University have been using acoustic tagging and tracking techniques to look at fish migration in the Severn estuary and Bristol Channel. The project has been supported by a wide range of partners, including other Universities, regulators, NGOs, industry and local fishery and conservation groups. To date, working with partners, more than 1000 fish from 9 different species have been tagged, and the tracking array now comprise more than 100 marine receivers as well as river based arrays.
The presentation will provide an overview of the project, and present some example data from Atlantic salmon, sea trout, twaite shad, as well as a case study of data and current developments around the abstraction for the new Hinkley Point C reactor. The project has recently been funded to spring 2028 and the presentation will also highlight opportunities for other Universities or developers to take advantage of the array facility.
About the Speaker – Dr David Clarke
David has been working as a researcher at Swansea University since 2018, leading the SEACAMS project and developing the fish tracking project and a herring genetic stock identification work. He started his career as a fisheries scientist and has extensive experience of both radio and acoustic tracking techniques. He has more than 30 years’ experience as an environmental manager and policy maker, including 5 years as Environment Agency Head of Fisheries and as an executive director of the Environment Agency.