The Barbel Society continue to spearhead a national survey of barbel spawning sites on UK rivers. The purpose of the survey is to gather data on the dates and times of barbel spawning activity, and to build a central national register of barbel spawning sites in order to improve understanding of barbel recruitment factors, as well as to enable better protection of those sites.
The survey will continue in the long term, and provide data to indicate any patterns or changes in spawning behaviour. Historical and anecdotal information is also valuable, as long as a reliable estimate of date can be supplied.
Angling clubs, riparian owners and individual anglers are invited to contribute to the survey. Anglers should ensure they have permission from controlling clubs/landowners to be present on the river bank and the information received will remain confidential to the Barbel Society and Environment Agency, especially specific locations, but the general conclusions will eventually be made widely available.
Anglers are urged to ensure their observations of spawning fish do not disturb them in any way and should report their observations via the online form available HERE. The information to be recorded and provided to the Barbel Society should include:
Contact details (Confidential)
Name of river
Name of stretch/nearest town
Brief description of site; eg 100 metres upstream of weir, left bank
Grid reference
Controlling club/riparian owner
Date
Time
Temperature
River conditions, high/low/clear/coloured etc.
Sizes and numbers of fish observed
Duration of activity
Any other comments
