Marine Scotland Science: directory

David C Stewart

Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Programme
Ecology Group
Fisheries Biologist

E-mail: Dave.Stewart@gov.scot

Marine Scotland Science, Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory, Faskally, Pitlochry, PH16 5LB, UK

Pronouns: he/him/his

Details of specialism

My main interest is the biology/ecology of salmonid fish, with primary focus on Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and Brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) and the fisheries they support. 

Within this broad topic area my particular focuses include:

• furthering our understanding of population structuring and fish behaviours, at both individual and sub-catchment levels
• sampling wild fish by trapping, netting and electro-fishing
• fish tagging programmes
• radio and acoustic telemetry to study individual fish movements and survival
• reconstruction of diets of fish predators using key bones
• interpretation of growth on fish scales to determine age and life history

Main policy links

• fishery management advice
• trapping and tagging programmes
• scale reading
• fish-eating birds and seals
• predator-prey relationships

Papers of relevance

Stewart DC, Smith GW and Youngson AF (2002) Tributary-specific variation in timing of return of adult Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) to fresh water has a genetic component. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 59, 276-281.

Stewart DC, Middlemas SJ, Gardiner WR, Mackay S and Armstrong JD (2005) Diet and prey selection of cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) at Loch Leven, a major stocked trout fishery. Journal of Zoology 267, 191-201.

Stewart DC, Middlemas SJ and Youngson AF (2006) Population structuring in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar): evidence of genetic influence on the timing of smolt migration in sub-catchment stocks. Ecology of Freshwater Fish 15, 552-558.

Stewart DC, Middlemas SJ, Mackay S and Armstrong JD (2009) Over-summering behaviour of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar returning to rivers in the Cromarty Firth, north–east Scotland. Journal of Fish Biology 74, 1347-1352. 

Burton T, McKelvey S, Stewart DC, Armstrong JD and Metcalfe NB (2013) Early maternal experience shapes offspring performance in the wild. Ecology 94, 618-626.