Electric fishing on the River Frome

As usual after lunch on a Tuesday, I took Helena to her part-time teaching job about two miles up the Golden Valley away from Stroud. As I dropped her off in the car park, we noticed a portable sign set up at beside the steep bank down to the River Frome - 'Danger! Electric fishing in progress. Please keep clear of water. Keep pets under control'

Helena had to dash, and I decided to go and poke my nose around to see what this involved. I noticed several vans with 'Environment Agency' stamped on their flanks, and then a group of people dressed in wading gear and carrying odd bits of equipment approached one of the vans. I parked my car and wandered up to one of the men, who told me what they were doing and agreed to my request to take photos. I fetched my camera from the car and walked further along the bank where I saw the other team in action.

Apparently, they are checking on the state of the fish in the Frome as part of an ongoing regular check on the health and vitality of this river. They are department is based in Tewkesbury but range across Shropshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, I assume following the rivers that feed into the the River Severn.

The process is that they measure out a 100 metre section of the river, placing nets at either end, and then a team of three people walk slowly upstream armed with two nets and the electric fishing rod. This is powered by a cable operated by another team member on the banks, and the biologist would hold the apparatus, which looks like an electric strimmer, except that its head consists of a round metal loop about 15 inches in diameter. The operator sends out a current of about 1 amp into the water, via the loop, which stuns any finish that are close by. The other two people then use their nets to catch the stunned prey, which they then put into buckets. When full of fish, the buckets are replaced, and the contents are taken to much large plastic containers for storage where they all swim together.

When the survey reaches the other net, they go to the containers where the biologist fishes (sic) them out one by one, identifies the type, measure their length and examines the condition of the whole animal. Finally she takes a scalpel to the skin of each fish and gently removes a few scales which are then put into a tagged paper envelope to be sent to labs for analysis. I was told they obtain a DNA sample from the skin which can show where the fish has originated. The process is repeated again in each section, so that eventually all the various results from different stretches of the river allows them to make a statistical analysis of the fish population for the the river as a whole.

The two teams were accompanied by a Team Leader and another man who is overseeing the work. They worked together very easily and efficiently and seemed to be really enjoying their work splashing about in the water of the river, which is about knee deep at present. Earlier in the day a bit further downstream they had found a 60cm long eel, as well as the countless trout, which you can see in my picture and other smaller species. I was told that they were ver pleased with the numbers of fish and their excellent condition, which is very good to hear.

All of the staff were very friendly to me and extremely approachable, and keen to inform me of what they were doing. I was very pleased and felt quite privileged to be able to see them at work so closely.

Unfortunately, I found the conditions were quite difficult to photograph, as they were moving about underneath overhanging trees and shrubs on the river banks, going in and out of the shadows cast by the bright sun. This shot of one of the biologists examining a trout was the best I could offer. But you can see another of my Blips here, which I shot last autumn, at a point about two hundred yards further downstream, which hopefully will give you a sense of the lovely location.