This week the GWCT Fisheries Team met to celebrate the achievements of Dr Céline Artero and Thomas Lecointre on the SAMARCH project, and wish them good luck for the next stage of their careers.
Dr Céline Artero with a sea trout on the River Tamar, one of the five study rivers where fish tracking was undertaken for the SAMARCH project.
Céline joined the GWCT Fisheries Team in 2017 to lead the research on the SAMARCH tracking project, where she tracked young and adult salmon and sea trout, during their migration from freshwater to the sea; investigating their behaviour, migration routes and timing. Céline looked at the mortality rates during migration, researching the factors influencing fish mortality.
Thomas also joined the Fisheries Team in 2017, as Research Assistant on the SAMARCH project, and his technical and problem-solving skills have been a huge asset to the GWCT Salmon and Trout Research Centre.
GWCT Fisheries Team members (L-R) Dr Rasmus Lauridsen, Will Beaumont, Dr Céline Artero and Thomas Lecointre enjoying a well deserved drink!
Céline and Thomas will be moving to the French / Swiss boarder close to Lake Geneva, as Céline takes up a new role as lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Western Switzerland (HES-SO).
Céline and Thomas said, “Working on the SAMARCH Tracking project was extremely challenging for all the fisheries team but we are now having great and crazy adventures to laugh about and we are glad that the outcomes of the project will directly influence the management of Salmonids.”
Dylan Roberts, Head of GWCT Fisheries and SAMARCH Project Manager, said, “I cannot stress how grateful I am to both Celine and Thomas for all their hard work, often going above and beyond, working extra-long hours at all times of day or night to ensure that the work was completed. Celine’s dogged determination to get the work done enabled the collection of some fantastic data on sea trout and salmon, shedding new insights into their lives through estuaries and at sea. Good luck and best wishes for the next stages of your careers”
Despite moving to work in Switzerland, Céline will continue to collaborate with the SAMARCH project to publish the final papers, and we are looking forward to seeing her back in the UK to present the results of the SAMARCH project at the Final Conference* in Southampton on the 14th & 15th March 2023.
The results from Celine's work are now being used to recommend improvements to the way we protect salmon and sea trout in estuaries and coastal waters in England and France.
*Places can now be reserved to attend the SAMARCH Final Conference: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/protecting-wild-salmon-and-sea-trout-in-transitional-coastal-waters-tickets-520567410137