Interesting read from Sept 2011 We gave the EA access to a section of the River Blackwater to carry out a fish population survey last week - thes results will allow them to produce an accurate assessment of the rivers ecological status for the EUs Water Framework Directive. The survey produced a surprisingly wide range of species in quite high numbers, which demonstrates not only what good habitat and water quality there is but also what a productive fishery the river supports. Anyone with an interest in fishing small rivers for coarse fish should have a great days fishing there. The catch was as follows: Roach [Rutilus rutilus] 38 Bullhead [Cottus gobio] 37 Dace [Leuciscus leuciscus] 27 European eel [Anguilla anguilla] 20 Perch [Perca fluviatilis] 11 Chub [Leuciscus cephalus]7 Minnow [Phoxinus phoxinus] 7 Common bream [Abramis brama] 6 Gudgeon [Gobio gobio] 6 Pike [Esox lucius] 4 Brown / sea trout [Salmo trutta] 3 Grayling [Thymallus thymallus] 2 Roach x common bream hybrid [Rutilus rutilus x Abramis brama] 1 they carried out the survey using electric fishing equipment, using two anodes and fishing a 100m section of river (single run), up to a stop-net at the upstream end (between two trees just down from the access lane bridge). All fish were held in oxygenated containers and returned immediately after measuring. The survey results themselves suggest that the way the river fishery is being managed is fine, so Id recommend an approach along the lines of if it aint broken, dont fix it. 2) the best fish habitat in the survey section was where there were gaps in the tree canopy, resulting in patches of submerged weed on the riverbed (mostly starwort). Therefore, some careful opening up of the canopy in a few places would be beneficial to the fish community, especially trout grayling and dace.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 08:14:06 +0000
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