The Environment Agency stocked Penton Hook on the Thames, the River Wey at Eashing and Elstead, the Blackwater in Camberley, Ashtead Lake, the River Cherwell in Thrupp, Bracknell Mill Pond, and Rye Dyke, High Wycombe with over 15,000 fish which had been reared at their own Calverton Fish Farm. The species list included: barbel, chub, dace, roach, rudd and tench.
The work was been carried out in conjunction with a number of angling clubs as part of a scheme to enhance rivers and stillwater fisheries across the South East. Some of the rivers had suffered from poor water quality and habitat degradation in the past, but a concerted effort by the Environment Agency is helping to turn them around and the EA report that watercourses in the region are now at their healthiest for over 20 years.
The Environment Agency release fish into waterways in England and Wales annually with fisheries officers targeting stocking activity using data from local fish surveys to identify where there are problems with poor breeding and survival; it is hoped that through this restocking work species at the various locations will return to healthy numbers. The fish populations will be monitored at all locations where restocking has taken place to enable the Environment Agency to track the success of the species released and their subsequent generations.
Environment Agency Fisheries and Biodiversity Team Leader Jonathan Balkwill said:
“We are pleased that we are able to carry out this work to improve the rivers and stillwater fisheries in the South East. The fish farm at Calverton is a great resource to be able to call upon, and the rivers and species we have worked with should really benefit from this work.
It is good news for anglers across the South East, as this restocking work should ensure that there are a wider variety of healthy adult fish to catch in the future.”
