My part in LLFTs 2021 internship scheme started in May. Spring was well on its way and with it the first signs of the invasive non-native species (INNS) that may well take over if we didn’t get to work quickly.
Malcolm, the trust’s operations manager guided us around the catchment, painting the picture of past work the trust has done, the work we will be carrying out throughout our internships and the work that is needed in the future to conserve and restore the freshwater environment.
Following this, Carolyn, the trust’s biologist gave us a tour of the River Leven. This part of the catchment is essential, not just as the only route through which migratory fish can enter Loch Lomond from the ocean but also through providing the means for community engagement, a crucial part of the work that the trust carries out later in the year.
Now familiar with the catchment, all we needed was training before we could get to work. The trust’s primary task during this time of year is the control of INNS, which whilst for some species is viable to be tackled ‘mechanically’ i.e., hand-pulled, more resilient species would require chemical treatment.
The trust put us through the two-day training course required to be licensed for the safe and professional use of pesticides, with all 6 interns passing the examinations with flying colours. Putting our training to the test, no later than the following day the interns were out on the Blane water, rescuing the people and fish of Strathblane from the giant hogweed invasion.
The results of previous years’ work with INNS in the area were evident in the recolonisation of large areas of the bank by wild garlic, bluebells and a host of native flora and fauna. This gave me the motivation I was needing, having been slightly overwhelmed initially by the scale of the task in hand and now, only one week in, we have already covered large stretches of the Blane water.
With preparations for the next wave of the trust’s work this summer already underway, I accompanied Carolyn and Malcolm to University of Glasgow research facility SCENE. Here we met with a team of students from the expedition society who the trust is recruiting and training as an army of electro-fishers. The expedition team will be deployed across the remotest and most inaccessible reaches of the catchment to fill in the blanks on fish populations and distribution, helping to inform future conservation work.
Whilst I look forward to the electrofishing work later in the summer and getting to meet the river inhabitants who we are working to conserve, over the coming weeks we will focus on INNS treatment, paramount to restoring the habitats which make up the Loch Lomond catchment.
