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About the river Wildlife Atlantic Salmon, Sea & Brown Trout
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Atlantic Salmon, Sea & Brown Trout
The Rivers Tyne and their tributaries are important locations for migratory salmonids in the UK. The gravels of the upland streams provide ideal breeding habitats and the good water quality supports both the diversity and richness of aquatic invertebrates needed as a food source. Atlantic salmon and sea trout spend the early part of their lives in freshwater, defending the territories provided by the broken water of the gravels and boulders of the upland streams. Both species migrate to the sea when they are about two years old having undergone physical changes to allow them to adapt to seawater. Migration usually occurs in May. The marine environment provides the fish with rich feeding grounds where they can grow very quickly. Both species return to the rivers to breed. Spawning occurs between November and December with ova being laid in excavations in the gravel called redds. The young fish emerge from the gravels in spring.
Brown trout differ from sea trout as they do not migrate, and may spend their entire life within a few meters of the redd in which it was born, despite having exactly the same requirements and being genetically the same.
