Thousands of new fish released into Derbyshire river for better angling experience

The fish stocking, which includes the release of 2,000 juvenile barbel and 1,000 chub, is part of the second year of a recruitment project in response to numerous reports in recent years of declining catches of juvenile species on the River Derwent.

With angling allowed as exercise in the current lockdown restrictions, as long as anglers adhere to the rules on staying local and limit this to once a day, with no overnight fishing, and keep to social distancing, now is an good time to enjoy the sport.

Gary Briggs, fisheries technical officer for the Environment Agency, said: “The East Midlands Fisheries team has been carrying out the second year of a project to improve fish populations in the region, in order to enhance angler experience.

“In response to angler reports of declining catches of juvenile barbel and chub in recent years, we’ve implemented this project to assist the recovery of coarse fish populations.

“To help with the effective management of future river fish populations, we have marked the new 2,000 barbel and 1,000 chub with blue dye near their ventral fins before stocking them in the river.

“With the help of local angling clubs, we can then monitor the fish catch data in an attempt to understand more about the recruitment and distribution of these coarse species in our local rivers.”

Anyone who catches one of the marked fish is asked to inform the Environment Agency fisheries team so they can monitor the data.

Anglers are asked to send details, including the date and time of the catch, location, length of fish, and ideally a photo showing the blue dye mark on the fish, to [email protected].

The agency is also reminding people that a valid rod fishing licence is required and anglers must adhere to fishing byelaws and fishery rules.

Licences cost £30 for a year and are available from www.gov.uk/get-a-fishing-licence, by phoning 0344 800 5386, or at your local Post Office.