Local angling clubs, the Barbel Society and the Environment Agency are coming together to improve the river habitat and fish stocks in the Dorset Stour.
The Stour between Blandford Forum and Wimborne has long been considered to have poor fish stocks mainly as a result of extensive river dredging that occurred in the 1970’s and 80’s.
Work has been ongoing for a number of years to improve the habitat for fish but now their numbers are going to get an additional boost. The Environment Agency using fish bred at its Calverton Fish Farm is stocking 3,000 one-year-old barbel on 1 November.
‘Through habitat improvement works and natural processes the river in this area now provides the correct habitat for barbel to thrive. This and planned future stockings will kick start the barbel population in this area, with the aim of establishing a self-sustaining population once again,’ said Andy Martin for the Environment Agency.
‘We have also marked each fish with a special colour tag so that when they are captured in the future we will be able to tell when and where they are stocked. This will give us valuable information on how barbel use the habitat at different stages of their lives and how well the fish are doing.’
But it is not just barbel that are benefiting from this project. Currently work funded by the Environment Agency and in partnership with the National Trust is creating a number of fry bays at key locations to improve the survival of young fish, particularly roach and bream, during high river flows.
To build on this work an ongoing project is being set up with local angling clubs to identify areas that would benefit from further improvement. The aim of this work is to ensure that all the coarse fish in this area can access the habitat they need to thrive. Funds have already been committed to this project by the Barbel Society and local angling clubs, and the Environment Agency will be providing financial and technical support.
‘This approach of working with the local angling clubs has been used successfully on the Stour above Blandford Forum to identify and undertake work to improve the environment for fish and other species. We want to extend this work to the middle Stour as by working with others we can deliver more for the environment and improve an under-utilised fishery for both local and visiting anglers,’ added Andy Martin.
‘The Barbel Society was delighted that the Environment Agency and angling clubs fully supported the initiative that the Barbel Society first presented regarding stocking the river, both in principle and with funding, and our initial offer of over a thousand pounds has now resulted in a much bigger, longer term partnership project to both stock barbel, and also improve the habitat in the river for all species,’ said Pete Reading of the Barbel Society.
