250 Barbel Introduced to River Thames Fishery

Hundreds of fish have been introduced into the River Thames to enhance stocks for anglers. As part of the Environment Agency’s (EA) fish restocking programme, 250 barbel were released at Ferry Lane Fishery, located in Goring, Oxfordshire. This constitutes the second phase of a three-year programme aimed at restocking a total of 750 barbel into the River Thames downstream of Goring weir. The Goring Fishing Club, which had requested the additional stock, indicated that the local fish population “needs a boost.” Neil Debono, chairman of the Goring Fishing Club, stated: “The idea when we approached the EA was to introduce a small barbel stocking programme which didn’t alter the environment of the river and to boost the population.” He further elaborated: “A lot of the big barbel we had, it held it up to 18lbs (8kg), but we were beginning to lose them and the fish we had were getting tired.” Stuart Manwaring, a fisheries technical specialist for the EA, informed the BBC: “We’ve responded to a call from the angling club saying that they were concerned about the population of barbel in the river Thames here at Goring.” He added: “It’s when we get stories like this from a fishing club where they highlight what they think could be a problem that we could investigate a little bit closer.” To facilitate tracking of their development, some of the released fish have been marked with blue dye. Mr Manwaring expressed: “The hope is that the fishing club will catch these fish and be able to tell us how they’re growing.” He also noted: “If they don’t catch any, that could indicate a problem as well, so it’s a bit of a look-see really.” Peter Gray, the Environment Agency’s area fisheries manager, commented that “without rod licences this vital work would not be possible.” A rod licence is a legal prerequisite that permits fishing with a rod and line for specific fish types in designated areas. These licences are estimated to generate £20m annually for the EA. BBC Oxfordshire can be followed on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), or Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content of external sites. Information regarding their approach to external linking is available.