Íslenskar landbúnaðarrannsóknir - 01.09.1978, Page 50

48 ÍSLENZKAR LANDBÚNAÐARRANNSÓKNIR
1925 Reykjavík Electrical Com- pany takes control of fishing leases.
1929 Árbaer dam is extended ac- ross south tributary. Water fiow is still maintained dur- ing summer through south tributary. Fish collecting below weir at power station are trapped and trucked up.
1932 The Ellidaár Hatchery be- gins operation.
1933 fry. First record of stocking ofsac
1933-1938 Due to increase in power demand, the dam is closed year-round. All the salmon have to be trucked above dam.
1937 The Reykjavík Anglers Club buys fishing lease from the Electrical Company.
1938 The dam on the south tributary is opened again during summer months. The trucking from power station weir still continues.
1960 The trapping of fish at the weir is discontinued and an automatic counter installed. The trucking is discontinued as the fish can pass above Árbaer dam.
1962 The present streambed comes into existence.
1963 The gillnetting in Grafar- vogur, near entrance to the river’s estuary, is discon- tinued.
1965 Ellidavatn dam is opened.
Salmon can now reach
spawning grounds in lake
inlets.
1967 Reykjavík Angling Club
takes over the Ellidaár
Hatchery.
1970 Streambed of Hólmsá, an
upriver rearing area, is
channelized and moved due
to road construction.
FISHING EFFORT
For more than 85 years the Ellidaár has
been operated primarily as a sports-fish-
ing stream. Only in the early years of this
time period were salmon caught and sold
commercially from seining operations in
the lower reaches. The effort expended for
the time period is listed in Table 1. Over
the years there has been an increase in
eífort from the original two rods to six rods
of recent years. This must be seen in rela-
tion lo the total catches made each year,
hatchery operations and releases of
juvenile salmon of various ages, and the
opening of the dam at Ellidavatn which
provided new spawning and rearing
areas.
YIELDS AND MANAGEMENT OF
THE ELLIDAÁR
The history of the river is divisible into
four well-defined periods. A pre-
documentary period covers the years of
exploitation prior to 1925. Some catch re-
cords of this era do exist (Tabble 2); how-
ever they are sporadically kept and open