Angling Trust/Environment Agency East Yorkshire Fisheries Forum. The Village Hotel, Hull -Wednesday 5 th July 2017

Transcription

1 Angling Trust/Environment Agency East Yorkshire Fisheries Forum The Village Hotel, Hull -Wednesday 5 th July 2017

2 FMA September 2016 to July 2017 saw advice given to perspective fishery creators who have a unexcavated site through to those experiencing poor angling in established pond. These ranged from half day site visits, to telephone conversations relating to algal blooms.

3 Increasingly, the majority of the visits are regarding aquatic weed control, particularly now that the only herbicide permissible for use in or near water is Glyphosphate. Conversely the other advisory visits often relate to the fact that the fisheries have no cover/habitats for fish. Techniques at our disposal are limited and some time novel. The EU dictate that pest management must now take an integrated approach. Jute Matting

4 Some good successes with Jute matting to create fishable areas on Gatehouse Lake at Hutton Cranswick. Ben Thurlow and his dedicated team of volunteers seem to be getting on top of a heavy infestation of curly water-thyme.

5 Assessment of benthic barrier products for submerged aquatic weed control DEBORAH E. HOFSTRA and JOHN S. CLAYTON J. Aquat. Plant Manage. 50: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in New Zealand have undertaken tank trials with a number of other aquatic plant species including curly water thyme (L. major) using three different density geotextile benthic barriers. Though some of the species tested, are not found in the UK (yet!) the results are very positive. After 10 to 17 months decomposition of the jute was evident, eliminating any need to retrieve the jute (Caffrey 2010).

6 Get in touch if you feel the need for fishery management advice. We much rather meet fishery owners/managers to discuss ideas and plans. Rather than meet you when we are taking diseased fish away for post mortems! Sometimes a phone call or exchange of s is all that is needed to put peoples minds at rest. Other times visits and samples are required.

7 River fisheries Think carefully before cutting weed. If you do cut weed, avoid piling it on the bankside as the run-off can further reduce dissolved oxygen. Delay stocking until its cooler conditions and stocking in lower densities. Avoid stocking locations that are vulnerable to drying out. Talk to neighboring fishery managers, river keepers and other parties about how best to manage river flows to avoid impacts. Check structures for unnecessary leakage in order to maintain depth. Even with low flows, deeper areas will still provide fish with shelter and useable habitat. Low flows increase the risk of predation by birds. Maintain as much rough and overhanging marginal cover as possible, particularly adjacent to pools and holding areas. Take care over fish welfare, particularly in salmon and trout fisheries. Take particular care when playing, landing and releasing salmon and sea trout during warm weather and avoid fishing if the water temperature exceeds 18 C by midmorning. More advice on good catch and release practices can be found at

8 Think ahead and be prepared. make staff/members aware and prepared. Keep a close eye on water levels and look for any signs of fish in distress. Visit the water early in the morning when dissolved oxygen levels are at their lowest. If you believe your fishery may be at risk, check that you have access to water pumps, aeration equipment and generators. If you need to remove weed, avoid piling it on the bankside as the run-off can further reduce dissolved oxygen. To help preserve valuable water and maintain water levels, repair leaking sluices or control structures. Please make sure any work doesn t have unintended consequences on neighbouring watercourses. Consider restricting ground-bait and fish feed to avoid a reduction in water quality. Take care over fish welfare. Minimise the use of keep-nets. If a match is planned, consider using multiple weigh-ins to avoid unnecessary stress to fish stocks. Consider avoiding stocking your water with further fish. If stocking is necessary, consider delaying until cooler conditions are restored and/or stocking in lower densities. Consider reducing fish stock densities this coming winter to avoid problems later.

9 Every summer time stillwater fisheries suffer disease outbreaks s of fish die and the impact on the businesses or angling clubs that run fisheries can de drastic. With recent milder winters and fluctuating spring temperatures we are seeing an increase in disease outbreaks. This combined with poor fisheries management is seeing the EA deal with large numbers of disease investigations. What to be aware of:- Diseases change fish behavior. They may become sluggishly. Gasp at the surface. Catch rates will reduce. They may have physical symptoms such as white patches along their bodies. You can get expert support on managing fish health by contacting our fish health team. If you see dead or diseased fish please ring our Incident Hotline on

10 How to disinfect your tackle What disinfectants can be used? If nets and gear can not be dried in sunlight, disinfectant can be used Equipment should be cleaned of all mud and debris. It should then be immersed or sprayed with the chosen disinfectant. An immersion/exposure time of at least 10 to 15 minutes is required. Virkon The solution will stay active for around 5 days. The solution should be kept out of direct sunlight. The disinfectant should then be rinsed off with clean water and disinfectant washings must be disposed of in a way that does not harm the environment; they should never be tipped into water containing fish or other aquatic life. Some disinfectants may contain hazardous chemicals therefore it is important that product labels and manufacturers instructions are followed. Protective clothing and equipment should be worn when diluting disinfectants to protect the eyes and skin. If in doubt seek advice from the suppliers. Manufacturers guidance on disposal should also be followed. Iodophors: When active, iodophors are a dark brown solution, however they become colourless when inactivated by prolonged exposure to light.

11 The NNSS website has everything an angling club needs to know regarding Biosecurtiy.

12 The mobile DIDSON survey in late September 2013 provided an excellent insight into the fish populations of the River Hull. Due to the tide, water clarity, flow and depths deploying traditional fishery survey techniques like Seine Netting and Electric Fishing on the River Hull is difficult. Therefore a lot of the data generated from the DIDSON survey and angling survey matches is helping to inform decisions. Decisions on:- Enhancing section of the River through improving habitats. Enhancing the angling experience through multi species stocking. The River Hull Integrated Catchment Strategy, which is a multi

13 Numbers of fish observed at various sites along the River Hull during a mobile DIDSON Survey in late September 2013 As all local anglers appreciate from September to 15 th March if you want a days fishing on the tidal River Hull you go to where there are boats, bridges and people. The RHIC looks to improve the conveyance of flows, one way of doing this is to remove blockages, such as the sunken vessels and wrecks. These incidentally provide good overwinter habitat. In summer these obstructions create valuable, shallow areas out of the main flow which fry favour.

14 have delivered one biomatrix active ecosystem floating island. This is moored on the Swinemoor Pasture Bank. Observations last year showed it was well used by juvenile roach and perch. This style of habitat is probably limited in terms of overwintering fish.

15 A Potential Solution? Plastic fish habitat/attractors have been used for many years in the United States by both State Agencies, like Fish and Game, but also by Anglers, wanting to attract bait-fish to an area to improve the predatory angling they are so fond of. We have adapted a Texas Fish and Game designed plastic habitat intended to be deployed vertically into deep-water reservoirs, for horizontal deployment in the tidal river. The orientation of the plastic pipe branches facing inwards at each end to prevent debris fouling the structure. A cheap, mobile, lightweight habitat structure which is long lasting, easy to deploy and does not require terrestrial habitats to be lost or imported. Combined with the cleansing effect of the flood and ebb tide it is hoped that these structures will provide compensation for the loss of habitat, whilst not posing a flood risk, or navigation. The structures will be monitored for both fish usage and debris accumulation throughout the coming year and it is hoped that we can report good findings at the next Fisheries Forum.

16

17

18 Typically the structures were deployed into water of 2m deep at low water. We looked to enhance existing natural habitats.

19

20 Yorkshire Water Tophill Low Nature Reserve Staff and their volunteers have undertaken willow removal around the ORSU, for the benefit of other species but also to get more sunlight into the ORSU making them more productive. Good sized roach fry NEXT:- Applying similar principles to much larger bodies of water..

21 Spider Blocks have been used by fishery managers as a habitat enhancement in lakes and reservoirs in the USA for many years. These plastic shrubs are simply sanded lengths of MDPE water pipe in lengths of 1 to 1.5m. These are set in bucket moulds with a quick setting concrete A single spider block cost approximately in materials and gives a foot print of circa 6.3 square metres or 9.5 cubic metres of habitat matrix. Plastic structures soon become naturalised as they build up a layer of periphyton, providing grazing for invertebrates that fish and eel will predate on. High Eske Lake is a 13 hectares Borrow Pit owned by the Environment Agency and is part of a larger Nature Reserve combining other ponds, fen and reed bed habitats. The lake is connected to the river by large pipes on the Northern and Southern Shore line, in affect making it one very large ORSU (Off River Supplementation Unit). We have been exploring ways of:- Improving habitat for Coarse Fish and Eel Reduce the foraging opportunities for cormorant All in away that is not detrimental to the many overwintering and breeding birds that use the site In early 2017, nine clusters of between 5 and 7 spider blocks were deployed into High Eske. Surveying with a Lowrance Echo Sounder with GPS capabilities showed that fish soon congregated around these structure in what otherwise is a fairly featureless borrow pit. The presence of these structures have not had any detrimental effect on wildfowl such as diving duck. 280 square metres of lake bed ( 0.2 % of the lake surface area) has been enhanced, and made less available to foraging cormorants at a cost of circa 650 for materials and four days work for two people from conception to deployment.

22 Numbers indicate water depth in feet Potential Future Work in winter 2017/8 revisit the work undertaken by the East Yorkshire Rivers Trust several years ago to hinge the marginal willows in to the lake, to create more juvenile fish habitat deploy more spiders.

23 On Monday 12th December 2016: Barbel and 2000 Chub were stocked into the River Hull above Hempholme Weir barbel 1500 Chub were stocked into the tidal Hull in Beverley Shipyard area. On Friday 16th December 2016 :- A consignment of 3000 Common Bream and 1500 Dace were equally split between the tidal river and the non tidal river.

24 Total Stocked so far: = 3,000 fish 2016 = 7,000 fish 2015 = 3,000 fish 2014 = 9,300 fish 2013 = 3,000 fish Total = 22,600 fish Thursday 22 nd June Snakeholm 7

25 2017/18 Will see the introduction of 2000 tench per annum till 2020/21 then a further 1 to 2000 per annum till Reinvigorating the Foulness/Market Weighton Canal Tench Fishery. Late spawning tench and the increasing need to weed cut earlier has seen numbers diminished. Bolstering number will hopefully re-establish a viable spawning population that will perpetuate into a self recruiting population that will once again provide good sport at the times of year when the bulk of the species are more noticeable by their absence. Proposed stocking location. A photograph of a lower Foulness Tench from circa 20 years ago. Good spring time fishing on the canal will hopefully see anglers continuing use the pegs, maintaining good access right through the season.

26 Get the FREE 1 st annual Newsletter and Journal of the ACA here 20Trust%20News&from=2017/01/01&to=2018/01/01&itemid=3792 We worked with Edinburgh Napier to undertake some pioneering work investigating phenotypic plasticity in the species. Crucian are one of a few vertebrates that can alter body shape to reduce the likelihood of predation by gape restricted piscivorous fish like Pike and Perch. Both fish A and B (above) are progeny of the same broodstock. Deeper bodied fish B (right) now lives in the presence of perch. It was cropped by Fyke netting from a pond one kilometre away where it had lived in a monoculture, with fish like A. Crucian will modify their body shape to reduce the likelihood of predation.

27 + = Lots of quality angling experiences for a multitude of species right through the year, with very little financial outlay.

28 1. Common bream 2. Silver bream 3. Ro x Br Hybrids 4. Roach 5. Rudd 6. Ide 7. Dace 8. Chub 9. Perch 10. Gudgeon 11. Eel 12. Barbel 13. Flounder 14. Brown trout 15. Carp Typically will catch a dozen or more species in a day.

29 Sadly a lot of people locally associate the sport of angling with these negatives! In Early March we filled a 110 Landrover and a large trailer with bags of angling related rubbish from High Eske Lake. The argument that this mess is always the result of infrequent once a summer type anglers is simply not the case. There is a lot of very scruffy very frequent anglers too!

30 Enforcement officers were out in force over the May Bank Holiday weekends and the start of the coarse river season, checking rod licence and for signs of illegal activity. Over this period we checked 882 anglers and produced 99 offence reports.

31 We are undertaking overt beach patrols to deter illegal fishing for Salmon and Sea Trout, to protect stocks. Beach patrols are undertaken in a 4 by 4 vehicle allow us to reach inaccessible areas of coast at low tide. These patrols deter illegal fishing and promote our enforcement work, allowing us to search for signs of illegal activity. We also check legally set gear to ensure it complies with their licence conditions relating to the restrictions on when and where they can fish and the size and type of net they can use. They are also expected to be attendance at their net at all times.

32 Whitby man handed community order for illegal salmon and sea trout fishing A Whitby man, was handed:- a 12-month community order. 240 hours of unpaid work. an ordered to pay 2,985 in legal costs. after he was sentenced Scarborough Magistrates Court on the 24 th March 2017 He had admitted two charges of gill net fishing without a licence after being caught red-handed on 4th July last year, by two enforcement officers carrying out night-time patrols along the lower River Esk and tideway. Illegal nets seized as part of the clampdown on illegal salmon and trout sales He had in his possession 23 sea trout and two salmon. These were seized, along with two gill nets and other equipment. Gill nets are illegal to use within inland waters.

33 Environment Agency Crosskill House Mill Lane Beverley East Yorkshire HU7 9JB Thank you for listening Mike Lee Fisheries Technical Officer Hull and East Yorkshire -