Íslenskar landbúnaðarrannsóknir - 01.09.1978, Page 35

THE ATLANTIC SALMON IN ICELAND 33
TABLE 6. The number of salmon cau ight in 1975-1977 in several rivers in Iceland and their average weight.
Rivers 1975 1976 1977
Number of salmon Average weight (kg) Number of salmon Average weight (kg) Number of salmon Average weight (kg)
1 Ellidaár 2,071 2.9 1,692 2.7 1,328 2.9
2 Úlfarsá (Korpa) 438 2.4 406 2.3 361 2.4
3 Laxá in Kjós 1,901 3.1 1,973 3.1 1,677 3.6
4 Laxá in Leirársveit 1,654 3.4 1,288 - 1,154 3.2
5 Grímsá and Tunguá 2,116 3.3 . 1,439 3.3 1,103 3.2
6 Thverá 2,330 3.7 2,368 4.0
7 Nordurá 2,132 3.7 1,675 3.6 1,470 3.6
8 Haukadalsá 914 3.5 904 3.5 862 3.4
9 Laxá in Dalir 547 4.2 488 4.5 419 4.3
10 Midíjardará 1,414 4.3 1,601 3.8 2,581 3.9
11 Vídidalsá and Fitjá 1,140 5.0 1,238 4.8 1,792 4.8
12 Vatnsdalsá 832 4.4 571 4.9 1,203 4.2
13 Laxá in Asar 1,881 3.7 1,270 3.6 1,439 3.4
14 Laxá in Adaldalur 2,136 5.1 1,777 5.2 2,699 4.7
15 Selá in Vopnafjördur 711 4.1 845 3.2 1,463 3.7
16 Hofsá in Vopnafjördur 1,117 4.5 1,253 3.7 1,273 3.9
17 Stóra-Laxá in Hreppar 340 5.1 293 5.1 266 4.5
18 Sog 593 4.0 589 4.2 537 3.8
The percentage of previous spawners
varies from 0-18.4. The return ofprevious
spawners to the river Ellidaár was low in
all three studies, from 2.7-6.0%. In the
other rivers previous spawners did not ex-
ceed 7.3%, except in the river Laxá in
Kjós in the southwest and the river
Midfjarðará in the north, where the re-
turns were 9.6 and 12.3%, respectively,
and in the Ölfusá-Hvítá river system in
southern Iceland where returns ranged
from 10.1—18.4%.
Weight of mature salmon
In general grilse may weigh from 1.5—3.5
kg, 2-year fish in the sea 4—6 kg, while even
larger salmon will normally have stayed
longer in the sea. The weight offish differs
between rivers. The number of salmon
caught in 1975—1977 in several rivers as
well as their average weight are shown in
Table 6 and the location of the rivers in
Fig. 10.
SALMON CULTURE IN ICELAND
Early hatcheries
The first salmon hatchery was built in
Iceland in 1885 near the river Laxá in
Kjós in western Iceland. During the fol-
lowing decades many small and inefficient
hatcheries were built at a number of
places, but problems in securing brood
stock and lack of people with some know-
ledge of how to run them soon forced a
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