Nouvelles données sur la présence de la truite de mer Salmo trutta L. dans la Meuse en Belgique

From June 1983 to July 1984, 12 specimens of sea trout (maximum length 53 cm) have been recorded in the River Meuse (as far upstream as Namur) and in its tributary the Berwinne stream at the Belgian-Dutch border. These observations are the first records of this species in Belgium since its presumed extinction around 1942 at the time the last Atlantic salmon Salmo salar was caught in Belgium by an angler. The return of sea trout into the Belgian River Meuse, about 300 km far from the North Sea, and its probable reproduction in several tributaries are events of great ecological significance which warrant the organization of an international (The Netherlands, Belgium, France , Germany) restoration program of the sea trout and atlantic salmon in the entire Meuse basin.