(Powan, pollan, lavaret, common, Baltic or European whitefish, powan (Coregonus lavaretus) is a species of whitefish belonging to the salmon family),

The  project, which is based at the Scottish Centre for Ecology and the Natural Environment (SCENE) at Loch Lomond and is being partly funded by Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) aims to establish 4 new populations of powan at sites across West and Central Scotland.

These new populations will act as refuges should anything happen to the naturally occurring populations at Loch Lomond and Loch Eck, possible threats include competition from other species such as Perch as well as human interaction with their environment.

Over December and January the staff at SCENE have been busy collecting eggs and sperm from the spawning populations at Lomond and Eck (left) and are currently incubating the fertilised eggs in the lab.

Once the fry hatch towards the end of March they will then be transported to the new locations earmarked by the Project.

Professor Colin Adams, (right) director of SCENE said: “Powan is one of the rarest freshwater fish in Scotland. The two Scottish populations are isolated from each other and differential evolution has driven the two populations in different directions such that they now differ in growth, maximum size, feeding ecology and genetically, thus the conservation needs of each population are different.

“This pioneering conservation project funded by SSE will establish 2 new populations of powan from each of the two donor lochs creating a much needed conservation refuge site, often known as an ark site, for each of the distinct groups of powan in Scotland.”

SCENE is run by the University of Glasgow and has been operating as a research and teaching facility for over 60 years, making it the oldest facility of its kind in the UK. In addition to this project SCENE also operates as a site for monitoring the populations of the many species that inhabit Loch Lomond as well as providing an invaluable base for researchers and students alike.

"One such study in 2008 looked at Loch Lomond colonisation by the (left) ruffe  (Gymnocephalus cernuus). The ruffe are now widespread, abundant and one of the commonest fish in Loch Lomond. Analysis of the gut contents of these fish caught on powan spawning grounds in Loch Lomond showed that they, as well as native brown trout, Salmo trutta L., and powan themselves, prey upon powan ova.

"Ruffe maintained a high winter feeding rate compared with powan and trout and fed on a broad range of benthic prey, of which powan ova formed the greatest biomass (84% of total diet) and dominated the diet numerically (57% of prey items). The observed incidence of powan ova consumption by ruffe was significantly greater than that of both brown trout and rowan."

But Gaberlunzie discovers that in Finland  powan is found in the sea, lakes and rivers almost throughout the country. Like salmon and trout, powan is nowadays also available farmed.

The average size of powan varies between 25 and 50cms (10-20") and the weight between 0,2 and 2kgs (½ to 4½ lbs), but there are also smaller and larger species, from the pygmy whitefish of the Lake Inari (left) in the northern part of Finnish Lapland to large individuals reaching the weight of 10 to 12 kilograms (22 to 26 pounds).


Hmm, what's fishing like in Finland in May?