Charlton Brook Dam Investigation
| Published: 10th October 2007 19:45 |
Charlton Brook Dam Investigation
Four representatives from the Environmental Agency on Wednesday this week started an investigation into the state of the fish stocks in Charlton Brook Dam. This was as a consequence of the excellent work done by The Friends Of Charlton Brook and their crusade to rejuvenate & clean up the dam and surrounding area.
Complete with Land Rover, rowing boat and a massive fish net, they encircled the dam with the net (towing it behind the boat) then pulling it in to gather together as many of the fish as possible.
They realised an amazing number of fish approx 5000, from tiny tiddlers to 25cm (10") long "monsters". It was quite a site to see a surprising number of fish all at once in the net. It was a bit of a struggle to pull in the net because of the large volume of fish caught, not helped by the amount of rubbish that had been dumped there.
They tentatively estimated they had netted 65% of the dam and were surprised at the number of fish pulled out, probably too many for the size of the dam.
Roach were the predominant species at approximately 65% followed by Gudgeon but there were also Perch, Bream & Tench apparently.
The picture above shows the consequences of throwing rubbish into the dam, this one was one of the fortunate ones and was rescued & returned to the water.
After letting most of them go some of the larger ones were measured and had a scale removed, recorded, and sent for analysis for possible parasites. We will probably have a lot clearer picture when the Enviromental Agency have finished their work and report back.
We Shall Not Be Moved
Most of the ducks beat a hasty retreat but this one was determined not to be dislodged, he finaly realised he couldn't win and flew away
