Look Inside

Today the Erewash was electrofished by the EA who kindly invited me along as part of the River Erewash Foundation to observe the process. Basically they choose a 100m section and wade upstream with staff on either shoulder netting all the stunned fish which are then placed into large barrels with oxygen supplied, at the end of the zone. This process is repeated 3 times up the same stretch to ensure all fish are caught before collecting any data. Below shows the net holding the fish at the top of the stretch ready to be placed into the barrels for inspection.

Once the net was emptied they speedily set about recording the measurements as well as taking a scale for testing on every fish they caught, keeping the stress of their captured fish to a bare minimum. Needless to say they all played there parts in the recording process before gently replacing the fish back in the Erewash to swim along their merry way. I found the whole experience fascinating and I was filled with envy struggling to believe this is their job, a dream one for me and they actually get paid for it. In reality their positions are far from glamorous and probably hard work at times, along with the years of studying of course, but who can blame a passionate angler for fantasizing about handling hundreds of beautiful fish everyday for a living.

The usual suspects all put in an appearance such as Chub, Barbel, Roach, Dace, Perch, Pike, Gudgeon etc but no trout or grayling but to be fair we weren't in the right stretch for them. Below is a picture of the measuring board with a nice sized chub laid out along with a Barbel and Roach shown below. Overall this was an excellent experience for me and shows yet again the EA's willingness to support and involve a local volunteers group such as the REF. There are no doubts that as the River Erewash Foundation goes from strength to strength, our partnership with the Environment Agency will grow stronger and we are grateful for what they have done to date.