In Mialet, act I of the birth of a nursery stream

The Forêt watercourse, the first stream evaluated by the teams. Midi Libre – STEPHANE BARBIER

The fishing federation, the territorial public basin establishment (Eptb) and the approved fishing and aquatic environment protection association of Mialet (Aappma) have undertaken the first visit to a tributary du Gardon in order to evaluate it as a natural trout reproduction site.

The narrow gour draws a small meander at the end of which it waddles. Striped in black, the trout on duty fled with great strokes of its fins at the sudden approach of the small delegation coming to inspect the good ecological order of this tributary watercourse of the Gardon de Mialet .
The Forêt stream, precisely, the subject of a first visit in order to found a nursery river project favoring the reproduction of endemic Cévennes trout.
A project at the confluence of several structures and skills whose primary objective consists of making a diagnosis of the Gard rivers.
"The project will be established over four years after identification of five sites in order to promote natural fish populations, explains Vincent Ravel, hydraulic technician at the Alès agglomeration and also president of the federation fishing area of ​​Gard. By optimizing what nature offers, the goal is to create nursery streams for the progenitors of a local species."

We know today that less than 1% of trout discharged reach reproductive size

At the end of a good hour of prospecting, the observation of Julie Marais, deputy director of the fishing federation and engineer in water science, shows a tributary with “good diversification of flow facies as well as a diversified grain size ensuring a biogenic substrate where life can be found. It is supplemented by sufficient shade to avoid rising water temperatures in summer."
A favorable environment only penalized by series of thresholds or roads, rascas as local residents call them, altering ecological continuity. A rather healthy situation therefore, despite a bed upset by the 2002 flood, which does not make the watercourse in question a priority.
"The aim is rather to breathe new life into courses which have been more severely impacted by the Cévennes floods" explains Julie Marais.

A project at the confluence of talents

The management of the Pépini&egrave river project involves the agglomeration of Alè via the hydraulic technician, Vincent Ravel, the fé the Gard fishing association with its vice-president and water science engineer Julie Marais, from the river technician ;rsquo;&Eptb territorial public basin establishment (Eptb Gardons) Reynald Vagner and the president of the approved association for fishing and protection of aquatic environments &agrav; Mialet Jean-Paul Gourdon.
Convention If the fisheries interest of the project is clearly evident, a tripartite agreement associating the private owners with the f´amp; Fishing deed and the agglomeration will be signed.
Sector Prospecting will be carried out in the sectors of Galeizon and its tributaries, Gardon de Saint-Jean, tributaries of H’Hérault, Cèze and Saint-André- de-Valborgne.

Thus five sectors will be explored in order to achieve the dual objective of restoring a course and making it conducive to reproduction. An experiment already underway on the Salendrinque and a tributary of the Galeizon, the results of which indicate the correct course to follow.
" In 2017 on the Salindrinque below Lasalle we planted trees and shrubs in order to encourage the development of a root hair for the development of the white-clawed crayfish among others, continues Julie Marais. But the phenomenon of drought in summer and the succession of violent floods weaken this work."
A challenge to take up, however "while we know today that less than 1% of the trout dumped reach reproductive size" concludes Vincent Ravel.

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