Fish species

The Spey similar to other Scottish Highland rivers, supports a limited variety of fish species. Salmon and trout dominate but other species including eels, lamprey, Arctic Charr, stickleback and flounder are all native to the river. Pike are also present and so are minnows the latter were most likely introduced by anglers.

In recent years a number of local lochs and put-and-take fisheries have been stocked with Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis). Rainbow Trout have found routes into the Spey but so far there is no evidence of a breeding population.

More recently other fish species have been found in the Spey including Roach (Rutilus rutilus), Rudd (Scardinius erthrophthalmus), Tench (Tinca tinca) and Orfe (Leuciscus idus). These were deliberately introduced into a number of local lochs. See Non Native Fish Reports.

The catchment supports the following native fish:

• Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)
• Trout (Salmo trutta) Sea Trout and Brown Trout
• European eel (Anguilla anguilla)
• Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus)
• Pike (Esox lucius)
• Minnow (Phoxinus phoxinus)
• Three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
• Flounder (Platichthys flesus)

Three varieties of lamprey are also present:

• Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)
• River Lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis)
• Freshwater resident brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri).