Fisheries experts will be stocking barbel, dace and chub at several locations in the North East this week as part of the Environment Agency’s ongoing plans to develop and restore rivers in the region.
3,000 barbel, 3,000 dace and 5,000 chub, reared at the Environment Agency’s Calverton fish farm, will be stocked into the Clow Beck near Darlington, the River Wear in Durham and the River Tyne at Hexham to help restore and boost natural populations of fish. Dace will also be stocked in the River Gaunless.
These rivers have suffered from poor water quality and habitat degradation in the past, but a concerted effort by the Environment Agency has helped turn these watercourses around.
The Clow Beck flows into the River Tees near Darlington, and has recently had two fish passes constructed and two kilometres of habitat improvement for barbel and dace created by the Environment Agency and the Tees Rivers Trust.
The Environment Agency is also restoring fish passage upon the River Gaunless by removing a redundant weir near Bishop Auckland that blocks the passage of species such as dace, and the Wear Rivers Trust have carried out habitat improvement works to provide good fish cover and spawning; introduction of the dace will help kick-start the recovery of the River Gaunless.
