A TEAM of surveyors were out sampling and cataloging invertebrates in Upper Annandale this week.
The team from the River Annan District Salmon Fishery Board were taking samples from Moffat Water and the upper Annan at Johnstonebridge on Wednesday.
Their efforts are a part of an ongoing study to ensure that water quality is checked widely alongside monitoring undertaken by SEPA. These surveys have been pivotal in identifying and verifying various pollution incidents within Upper Annandale’s waters, as a spokesperson for the trust explained: “Following on from last month’s sampling, numbers of cased caddis dominated both sites with over 600 assorted cased caddis at the upper River Annan site.
“At this time of year, the majority of the invertebrates in the river are very small, mostly being offspring from this year’s hatches so far.
“The exception being the blue winged olives which are now near the end of this year’s hatching – as shown by the recent drop in sample numbers – with this year’s eggs not hatching into the nymph stage until spring of next year.”
The survey team will be out to take another round of samples next month before gathering all their data and publishing this year’s study later in the year.
