You are here

Stillwater Fish Ageing Surveys April 2013

Environment Agency
June 19 2013

Stillwater Fish Ageing Surveys
A service to stillwater fisheries April 2013
Understanding how the fish in your water are growing can provide vital information to help you manage your fishery. Our Fish Ageing Surveys are a quick and easy way of gaining vital knowledge about the growth and health of your fish. The service is free and easy to use.
Improving fisheries management - Improving angling
If you are concerned about how well your water is fishing, or if you just want to know more about the growth of your fish, using our Stillwater Fish Ageing Survey Kit may provide you with vital information for the management of your fishery. If you are thinking about stocking more fish because catches are poor, it could save you money.
We will send you a "kit", containing everything you need, including advice, to measure and remove scales from your fish. We will age the scales (counting the yearly marks the fish lay down on their scales), calculate growth rates and send you a specific report on the growth of those fish and recommendations about fisheries management steps that may be valuable.
Taking samples
The kit contains all you need to sample scales from up to 200 fish and provide us with information that means we can make our recommendations specific to your fishery. It includes instructions about how to remove scales, record the lengths and ensure the scales get to us in good condition. It includes a freepost envelope to send the fish scales and all the information back to us. We will also include a computer CD, which has useful information on fishery health, management and best practices.
The surveys are most useful for silver fish populations. These are roach, rudd, common bream, silver bream and crucian carp. If done properly, the removal of 3 or 4 scales from a fish will cause it no harm - the scales quickly grow back leaving no trace of their removal. Full details of how, what fish and how many are included in the kit.
How to get a Stillwater Fish Ageing Kit
To get a kit, or to get more items for an existing kit, contact: Fisheries Technical Services, Environment Agency, Bromholme Lane, Brampton, Cambridgeshire, PE28 4NE or Tel: 01480 483803 Email: [email protected]
We will send you your report within 20 working days, but please be aware that this may take longer at busy times of the year.