Barbel For The Thames

Over the past 2 years the Environment Agency have been introducing new barbel stocks to the Thames. Approximately 4500 "marked" fish were released into the river between Marlow and Kingston, in areas we believe will provide suitable habitat. The reasons for this stocking are to enhance the naturally occurring barbel populations, to improve the angling and to study long term barbel distribution and migration through the river.

The barbel have been supplied by the Environment Agency's fish farm at Calverton, near Nottingham. Their age is 2+ years producing a fish of approximately 8 to 12 inches, we are hoping that by stocking a larger size increases the survival rates.

The fish have been marked using an injectable Elastomer dye that becomes a flexible resin within the fishes tissue. The positioning of the marks are either on the head or in the pelvic fin (see photo's below) and can be one of six colours: yellow, green, red, orange, blue and purple (All bar the blue and purple are fluorescent under ultra-violet light if you have one handy !!!). We can use these marks to help us identify the fishes stocking site and determine whether any up or downstream movement has occurred.

We would like you as anglers to report any catches of the "marked" barbel, either via your club or directly to us on Tel. No. 01189 535518, quoting the colour of the mark, its location on the body, its weight and length (if possible) and its condition. We are not expecting any catches immediately, but would imagine they could start to appear in two or three years time.

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