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Fisheries Newsletter

Updates from your local area fisheries team February 2017

It has been a busy but rewarding year in the Hertfordshire and North London's (HNL) fisheries team. We've seen the first of our Volunteer Bailiff Scheme Bailiffs hitting the banks, changes in how we deliver aspects of our work such as angling participation and rod-licence marketing, and changes to legislation around fish movements and keeping non-native species.

Fishy Goings On

December 2016 Stockings - Just in time for Christmas! We’ve been helping Father Christmas out a little early this year. Rivers around Berkshire, Hertfordshire and London have received thousands of fish as part of our Christmas stocking. These fish are bred and raised at our rod-licence funded Calverton Fish farm in Nottinghamshire. On Monday 19 December, we stocked 3,000 coarse fish into the Colne Brook in Wraysbury. We had the help of the local angling club, Blenheim Angling Society, to unload the chub, dace and barbel which had been driven down from Calverton fish farm that morning.

Some of Calverton's fantastic red-finned roach were release into the Lea Navigation at Enfield Lock, after the introduction of 140 meters of floating reedbed refuge was recently installed to benefit silverfish populations. We also stocked crucian carp, tench, roach and bream to Les Webber's Angling Projects lake in Wraysbury. Angling Projects is a volunteer run organisation that aims to give vulnerable children the opportunity to try and experience fishing for free. For more information on Angling Projects and Les' work see the website here: http://www.angling-projects.org.uk/index.html

Another bucket of chub, barbel and dace released into the Colnebrook.

Plenty of volunteers turned out to help stock a selection of stillwater species at Angling Projects.

Roach delivered under personal Bodyguard at Enfield Lock!

Our time spent delivering and stocking fish from Calverton is in a relatively short window each winter, however the staff at Calverton are busy year round, sourcing broodstock, spawning fish and raising future generations of a multitude of species. Get a peek behind the scenes at Calverton here:

https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2014/04/02/egg-citing-times-down-on-the-fish-farm/

https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2016/10/26/fish-farming-how-hard-can-it-be/

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Preserving Crucian Carp

We recently assisted the staff of the Royal Parks at Hampton Court, by netting and removing unsuitable fish species from two ponds which are to be used as crucian carp habitat, in support of the National crucian carp Project: http://www.anglingtrust.net/page.asp?section=1057

Crucian carp are susceptible to hybridisation with common and mirror carp, as well as goldfish. This hybridisation combined with a loss of their typical habitat, small ponds, has led to a significant decline in the number and distribution of true crucian's.

The removal of the larger carp species, as well as some large pike which predate on crucian carp, will help the two ponds become suitable 'Ark' sites for the species. The ponds will be stocked with genetically true strain crucian carp provided from the Environment Agency Calverton fish farm next winter.

Over twenty large carp and some pike were removed from the ponds, and relocated to one of the Royal Park lakes used for recreational fishing.

Hertfordshire and North London Fish health and disease status

Thankfully 2016 has been a relatively quiet year incident wise, in terms of fish health and disease. In the Hertfordshire and North London Area, we recorded two outbreaks of Koi Herpes Virus (KHV), one a small farm reservoir near Royston, Hertfordshire, the second another small farm reservoir in Essex. This compares to no outbreaks in the HNL area in 2015, and four in 2014. Nationally there were thirty-two recorded outbreaks, up from eleven recorded in 2015. This increase is associated with the longer periods of hot weather recorded this summer, with KHV operating in water temperatures above sixteen degrees centigrade.

Our fish health team based in Brampton are instrumental in helping diagnose and respond to fish health problems. Get an idea of what goes on inside the lab from one of their blogs posted on the Gov.uk website:

Inside the Environment Agency's fish lab | Creating a better place

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When the Fish Health Inspectorate confirm the presence of a designated disease, they will put controls in place to limit the spread of disease. Once confirmed the fishery and map of the control area is listed on the Gov.uk website.

You can view the listed fishery's and control areas, as well as get access to further information on KHV and other diseases at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-fish-or-shellfish-diseases

HNL Enforcement News - Volunteer Bailiff Service Pilot Update Herts North London area appointed two volunteer bailiffs, Ken Axtell and Darren Clarke, to Phase 2 of the voluntary bailiff service in November. Both successfully completed legal and enforcement training to enable them to obtain their Salmon & Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 (SAFFA) fisheries warrant.

Under the pilot, Ken and Darren will participate in a period of hands on training during which they will identify the different types of rod licence, undertake risk assessments of waters and carry out angler checks under guidance from our full time enforcement officers.

HNL fisheries enforcement officer Darren Wakenell has been overseeing their progress and has acted as our area co-ordinator with the Angling Trust volunteers. Darren reports: ‘Our Phase 2 volunteers have progressed well and are really keen to help us in the field.’

There are also a number of volunteers under Phase 1 of the scheme, who are active in the area and encouraged to report fisheries incidents to our hotline number on 0800807060 as well as logging reports via the Trust website.

We will be monitoring the scheme over the winter months. It is hoped that having Ken and Darren on board will allow us to explore other opportunities to deliver wider fisheries enforcement across the area.

Ken Axtell Darren Clarke

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Floating Reedbed installation on the Lea Navigation We have been working in partnership with Thames21 to install 140 metres of floating reed bed habitat on the River Lea Navigation at Enfield Lock. The project has been funded by rod licence revenue through the Fisheries Improvement Programme and the aim of the project is to improve spawning habitat and to provide refuge for fish on this part of the Lower Lee.

Working with 15 volunteers ranging from members of the local community and the River Lee Anglers Club, tasks involved fixing the refuges together, planting the coir mattresses and protecting the new planting from wildfowl by fixing mesh in place. The fully built refuges were then floated across the river and fixed in place along the far bank.

Fairland’s Valley Project- The HNL Fisheries team have been working in partnership with Stevenage Borough Council to naturalise an urban Stillwater fishery. The Fairland’s Valley Reed bed project has been funded through the Fisheries Improvement Programme and been completed in two phases. Fairland’s Valley Park is situated in Stevenage and hosts a relatively large urban Stillwater fishery within it. The lake has concrete banks and offers little in the way of habitat for fish. Other than an angling venue the lake is used for sailing and is a place for the local community to walk around and enjoy their surroundings. The idea behind the Fairland’s Valley reed bed project is to introduce marginal vegetation to the lake offering additional cover for fish from predation and to introduce suitable spawning habitat for fish populations present. By working in partnership with Stevenage Borough Council and Welwyn Garden City Angling Club we have been able to install in excess of 150m of planted reed bed habitat. Welwyn Garden City Angling Club currently lease the fishing rights and plan to introduce angling platforms between the reed beds to improve the angling amenity and allow junior angling sessions to take place.

The concrete banks have been replaced by preplanted coir roll protected from disturbance by waterfowl. Recreational angling swims have been left at appropriate spacing between the marginal habitat.

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UFO's Spotted in Hertfordshire!

We get some interesting incidents reported to us on the 0800807060 hotline. One call from a local angler reported that 2 strange unidentified floating objects had been spotted in one of our recovering chalk streams, the River Ver near St Albans.

The ‘UFOs’ were investigated by fisheries enforcement officer Graham Haynes, who promptly discovered they were in fact, illegal fish traps, constructed from plastic piping. Both traps had mesh covering the inlets and were capable of taking small fish and crayfish, as well as presenting a danger to water voles and aquatic birds.

Crayfish trapping is popular in HNL rivers, often prompted by TV celebrity chefs cooking up signal crayfish. Our officers check hotspots for illegal traps and un-tagged instruments while on patrol. Crayfish traps must be licenced and tagged. For more info on how to apply for free see here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/permission-to-trap-crayfish-eels-elvers-salmon-and-sea-trout

The Lower Lee Aeration Partnership The HNL Fisheries team have worked in partnership with The River Lee Anglers Club and The Canal and Rivers Trust to help boost resilience against fish kills on the Lower Lee. We managed to source funding to purchase a number of Venturi Aeration units to equip The River Lee Anglers Club with the ability to help respond to fish mortality events in their section of the canal. The Angling club have also received a dissolved oxygen metre as well as all of the relevant health and safety training required to help respond to such incidents. We held the training session at CRT’s Enfield office, it consisted of a health and safety presentation followed by a practical demonstration in the Swan and Pike Pool over the road. There was an excellent turn out from the angling club and we now have 10 signed off competent volunteers capable of assisting in a response on the Lower Lee Navigation.

Fishery Officer George Horne demonstrating dissolved oxygen monitoring equipment in the Lower Lea

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Big fines for Rod Licence offences in Herts and North London This year we have seen some hefty fines issued by the courts for fisheries rod licence offences. Anglers who failed to buy a rod licence faced fines of up to £650 across courts in Herts North London. In one case, an angler had been banned from holding a rod licence due to repeat offences & was caught fishing without a licence again. The court in question administered a fine of £530 with £120 costs. A hefty fine, when a rod licence would have cost just £27 for the year. This goes to show the magistrates take seriously anyone who displays contempt for the courts decisions. In another case, two anglers were caught by the Police illegally fishing on a trout lake at night. They reported the facts to us and we prosecuted the individuals. Fines of over £450 were issued to the offenders involved.

Site Permits, Fish Movements and Non-native Fish HNL area hosted the rollout of the first national workshop on site permits under the Keeping & Introduction of Fish Regulations 2015 (KIF).

We have set up a programme of work to review site permits and increase regulation of fish movements and sites that have non-native fish; including fisheries that have site permits with removal conditions. This work includes updating a database of all our permitted sites where we have known presence of non-native species, including catfish, sturgeon, grass carp and other invasive non-native species such as topmouth gudgeon.

Grayling in the Gade 1000 Grayling were stocked into the Upper Gade this summer, as part of a delivery from the Environment Agency’s fish farm in Calverton.

Recent habitat works on the Gade, including weir removal, will hopefully encourage the wild trout and grayling population to thrive.

A classic species found in cooler, chalk-stream rivers like the Gade, Grayling are also popular with anglers who refer to them as the ‘Lady of the Stream’ due to their elegance and beauty!

HNL Fisheries Enforcement Officer Darren Wakenell checks licences in HNL.

Darren has forged strong partnerships with the HNL Police wildlife unit, who report incidents to us directly for investigation. One recent incident resulting in £450 fines for two unlicensed individuals.

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Working with our National Fisheries Service team, area fisheries and enforcement officers will be conducting regular compliance site visits with site permit holders to ensure site permit conditions are being complied with; particularly in the case where inappropriate non-native species are required to be removed. We have already been working with a number of fisheries with re-homing wels catfish, which had to be removed under the conditions of their site permit; due to the risk they pose to the wider environment and other fisheries should they escape.

When it comes to invasive non-native, HNL fisheries officers have already successfully removed and eradicated topmouth gudgeon and black bullhead catfish from the area using a "rotenone" based piscicide. Both these species are invasive and have detrimental impacts on our native fish species and fisheries.

Black bullhead (Ameiurus melas) Fisheries Officers using rotenone

Should you be concerned that non-native fish are being kept at a fishery illegally or even if you discover a non-native fish we would like to be informed about it. Please report it to us via the following email address: non-natives@environment-agency.gov.uk

Here's One we removed earlier!

The fisheries team recently removed a koi carp from the River Misbourne in Amersham after it was reported by a local resident. Ornamental fish such as goldfish and koi carp can carry disease and parasites which can have a devastating effect on coarse fish populations and have major commercial impacts on fisheries.

As well as the risk of disease, goldfish and carp can also interbreed with crucian carp, a threatened species, leaving ponds with hybrid populations.

Ornamental fish should be kept in garden ponds and not transferred into the wild - Releasing fish into the wild or moving them between or into fisheries without getting consent from the Environment Agency is an offence under the Keeping and Introduction of Fish Regulations 2015.

The removed Koi was rehomed in a private ornamental pond.

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Do you want to know how much rain has fallen in our Area during December or how high the river flows were?

Every month a Water Situation Report is produced by Hydrologists in the Groundwater, Hydrology and Contaminated Land Team. This report is available to our customers through the Environment Agency's external website. The December 2016 edition is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/water-situation-report-south-east

Summary for December 2016: It was a dry month with the Hertfordshire and North London Area having received 25% of the long term average rainfall for December. The Area recorded a decrease in soil moisture deficit but ended the month with a soil moisture deficit larger than the long term average. The majority of our chalk indicator sites recorded below normal monthly mean flows while the North London and urban catchments recorded exceptionally low flows. With the exception of Wapseys Wood which remained level, all of our groundwater indicator sites continued to decline in level.

The majority of our chalk indicator sites recorded

below normal monthly mean flows while the North

London and urban catchments recorded exceptionally

low flows

If you would like to receive a monthly reminder each time the monthly report is released, simply send an email to groundwaterhydrology@environment-agency.gov.uk

River Chess below Chesham

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Want to improve your fishery? Funding opportunities for 2017!

Many of you may be aware that there has been some Rod Licence funding available from the Environment Agency over the past couple of years to improve your fisheries. This is called the Fisheries Improvement Programme (FIP). You may also be aware of the Angling Improvement fund (AIF) which is run by the Angling Trust. The FIP is separate from the Angling Improvement Fund; the latter is administered by the Angling Trust on our behalf as part of the National Angling Strategic Services Contract and is targeted at developing angling facilities, angling participation activities and addressing predation issues. In contrast the FIP is targeted towards making fisheries habitat improvements i.e. fish refuge and spawning habitat as well as improving fish passage, tackling sediment issues and naturalising fisheries.

There may be some circumstances where projects overlap the two funding options. Both pots of money come from rod licence income and therefore it must be used for projects with a demonstrable fisheries benefit.

River Habitat Workshops

With the help of the Wild Trout Trust and Affinity Water we have been running our popular river habitat workshops for four years, and have taught basic river habitat restoration to over 200 volunteers in that time. We are looking forward to another successful week of events in 2017, and aim to coincide the workshops with London Rivers Week. Contact Rob Pearson at rob.pearson@environment-agency.gov.uk to register your early interest for this years event.

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"We are currently in the process of scoping out new

projects to fund in the next financial year and would

invite you to approach your local fisheries officer with

ideas"

We are currently in the process of scoping out new projects to fund in the next financial year and would invite you to approach your local fisheries officer with ideas for improving fisheries in the Hertfordshire and North London Area. Suitable projects should consider:

• How habitat will be improved for fish and wildlife

• How the project will benefit anglers

• Is some match funding available, either financial or as 'payment in kind'.

We have successfully worked in partnership with a number of angling clubs in Hertfordshire and North London over the past two years and been able to secure funding to improve several fisheries across our area. It is always much easier to get projects off the ground if we have ideas ready when funding is released, hence the reason for the email so far in advance of the next financial year.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any ideas you have, we will be happy to discuss your proposals in detail over the phone or attend a site visit to scope out feasibility.

Don't forget - 2017 Rod Licence Changes

• March 2017 see's the long awaited changes to the rod licence system, including the introduction of a

three rod coarse licence, a rolling licence valid for 365 days from purchase and a free licence for juniors. Licence's will still be available over the counter at the Post Office, however online sales will be moving to a government digital service. Information on the new system will be available from March 1st on the gov.uk website here.