EA Fish Survey Month

i am working nights on the 4th october might be able to get down to thurrock if i get up early.

that'd be pukka andy, I know for sure that the EA folks on the foreshore genuinely appreciate TAC members turning up

ok, so which club members am I gonna see tomorrow, wednesday and thursday

well I wasn't quite billy no mates today, a fella strolling by stopped to watch, turns out he's a TAC member, but not on the forum
it was great to see the guys'n'gals from fisheries again, and boy do they know some interesting stuff

results were pretty much as expected, roach dace, flounder and bullhead were caught in the net

I was hoping to be at Chiswick on Thursday but I've been invited to a private fishery by a mate and you can't turn down such an invite.

good luck m8
I will be down at kew today banging the TAC drum

I should be going into the office today, but I think rather than turn left at the end of the M4, I'll be turning right towards Kew.

jim, ill join you tomorrow at chiswick.

paul joined me on the foreshore yesterday, and despite all the sewage, some fish were caught
perhaps the greatest indicator of how the river is, was that only one smelt was caught

last one for me today folks, if anyone is about, then please come on down

James Page wrote:

paul joined me on the foreshore yesterday, and despite all the sewage, some fish were caught
perhaps the greatest indicator of how the river is, was that only one smelt was caught

And that was a Sand Smelt which are rarely seen anyhow. No (Common?) Smelt, which is surprising (or not!) given that, according to Joe from the ZSL, they spawn at Wandsworth & live all their lives in the tidal (unlike eg Flounder & Sea Bass that eventually go out to sea).

Very enjoyable couple of hours with Jim & lads & lasses of the EA. It may be a job, but their enthusiasm shows through & you can tell its more than just a job for them. We were also joined by some first year Marine Biology students who were promptly given an anti-Beelzebub & cohorts radicalising talk ;-).

They can't electro-fish the tidal as the salt makes the water TOO conductive so the electricity just dissipates harmlessly. Netting from the shore means that the relatively shallower areas were sampled & only small stuff was caught, but this was by design as the survey subject is juvenile fish. The EA do know (& now so do I ) where to cast their nets for bigger stuff.

8 species showed &, IIRC, in approximate descending order of frequency: Sea Bass, Roach, Dace, Bream, Common Gobi, Flounder, Sand Smelt, Gudgeon. All(?) in the roughly 1"-2" range, & all except a few larger Dace, this year's crop.

Some of the students with the help of one of the EA bods undertook a kick sample of the recently flooded foreshore. Surprisingly small biomass seen, presumably because of the recent pollution & most of that tiny red tube worms - what I imagine to be "Joker" - which was as expected given their tolerance of poor water quality.

I'm not brilliant with a camera, but I'll try to post up a few pictures.

James Page wrote:

perhaps the greatest indicator of how the river is, was that only one smelt was caught

There were literally hundreds in last year's survey - I had the job of keeping them alive with buckets of fresh water as they go belly up in minutes, so remember them well.

http://www.lbp.org.uk/londonap.html
London Biodiversity Action Plan - Smelt

Quote :

Smelt - Osmerus eperlanus
Ever-improving water quality has assisted the recovery of the species in several rivers and in particular, the River Thames. In Greater London we now have a small but nationally significant population, with spawning known to occur at the mouth of the River Wandle for example. Fish have also been caught in Bow Creek on the River Lea, at Brentford and Isleworth Aits, and mid-channel in Battersea and Greenwich Reaches

Fingers crossed that greater numbers will be found further downstream.

thanks paul for posting pics
it was willie and myself yesterday, we even managed to get cut of by the tide and ended up wading through thigh deep water to get back on terra firma

hi all. thames most improved river, must have dropped way down the list. hoping to see our estuary species on tuesday.

nice one andy

Quick remeinder of the next set of dates:

4/10 West Thurrock (Wharf Pub) 12pm on site
5/10 Greenwich (Naval College) 2pm on site
11/10 Mucking (Stanford-le-Hope nature reserve TQ 704 812) 12pm on site
12/10 Denton (Ship & Lobster Pub) 13.30pm on site

hi all
just got back from the survey at thurrock/grays and we caught bass,flatfish,gobi, mullet, stickle back and a tug or it might have been a pug and others. 13-14 species in all and found some anchor leads. got loads of pictures however got to go to work now so i,ll sort through them tomorrow.

Superb Andy, thanks for getting down, look forward to all the pics

hi all
been working nights, lates and days recentley. i have had a real problem with uploading the pictures following ed,s instructions that i printed off from a message from david, all get is internet explorer cannot show the web page. i have gone onto servimg.coms web site and still cant upload. on ed,s instructions i can.t get past step 5.

back to the survey i met 3 EA guys in the wharf car park and they were from ely and littleport area and we met the others who turned up on a boat. the boat took the net out and dropped over the side in about 4-5ft deep an 3 on each side pulled the net in. the 1st go produced a bass just under around 2lbs and lots of small fish. it was unusuaul to flatfish 2" long. all the fish were measured and they offered if i would like to measure a batch which i declined however with hind sight should have accepted. In the past i have been very critical of the ea in my area but these guys were great. the guy in charge who did introduce himself told me roding creek when the tide comes in has big bream and bass swimming together, i have seen the river black with big mullet. perhaps steve appleford should have powered downstream to the roding barrage!

Cheers Andy.

Give me call over the weekend and i can talk you through it, or email me the pics mate.

thanks david. ed has given a suggestion which i will try first. i dont want to bother you because of recent events however if i still fail i will email them. its too long to wait for our prize bass and thanks ed in advance regardless of the outcome.

No probs, good luck. I think once you have done it once, its easier.

Some pics from Andy B..









Andy the bottom one is a Goby but looks different to upstream.