Delegates attending the latest Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust’s brown trout and river habitat management course are probably the luckiest people around. Not only do they get to study on a beautiful lowland chalk stream, they will also get to grips with the latest practical research developments which aim to improve trout productivity for both wild and stocked fish.
This two-day intensive course offers a unique training opportunity for anglers and fishery managers, particularly as there is a strong emphasis placed on the participation of delegates.
The course is led by Dylan Roberts, the Trust’s head of fisheries, who will be supported by many of the Trust’s well-respected scientists such as Dr Jonathan Reynolds, who will be discussing the controversial issue of swans and lowland river habitats. Mike Swan, one of the Trust’s advisors will be demonstrating practical mink control, while other topics to be covered by the fisheries team include habitat improvements on lowland and upland rivers, the impacts of siltation on trout egg survival and the stocking of adult and juvenile trout.
Practical demonstrations on the River Ebble will help to identify good and bad trout habitat, and will include electro-fishing and fish tagging demonstrations. Other important topics to be covered on the river range from predation issues and spawning areas to tree management and radio telemetry.
For more than twenty years the Trust has been involved in ground-breaking research into the management of trout populations and their habitats and this work has pioneered many of the habitat improvements that are now in common use on many of our thriving trout streams and rivers.
The two-day course will be held at the Trust’s headquarters in Fordingbridge, Hampshire, on 24th and 25th June, 2009 and aims to help fishery managers make the most of their wild and stocked trout populations. The course content will be based around the Trust’s latest research and will include many practical river-based demonstrations.
Each place on the course costs £235.75 and includes refreshments and lunch. For further details and an application form, please telephone Lynda Ferguson, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust on 01425 651013 or e-mail: lferguson@gwct.org.uk.
