An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

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Pallenpool
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Re: An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

Post by Pallenpool »

:read:
Last edited by Pallenpool on Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Tengisgol
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Re: An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

Post by Tengisgol »

Pallenpool wrote: Fri Nov 15, 2019 10:35 pm:read:

Yes, let’s wait for the book :tea:
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Liphook
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Re: An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

Post by Liphook »

Are SDAC and the ARP working in conjunction does anybody know?

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Pallenpool
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Re: An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

Post by Pallenpool »

Tengisgol wrote: Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:49 am
Pallenpool wrote: Fri Nov 15, 2019 10:35 pm:read:

Yes, let’s wait for the book :tea:
Phil have you any updates as to how this project is progressing?
Many thanks and enjoy your fishing on the Aire.
:Hat:
No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.

Heraclitus


www.thepiscatorialraconteurs.co.uk

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Coral Maestro
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Re: An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

Post by Coral Maestro »

These restocking projects are a wonderful thing but I can't help thinking that they don't address the real problem. I suspect habitat degradation is the culprit and if the issue is agricultural chemical usage in the catchment then that has to be controlled. If the problem is predation by cormorants or otters then that has to be addressed (perhaps by creation of sanctuary areas for the roach). If the problem is due to discharge from sewage works or fish farms then that has to be dealt with.
If you keep putting fish into a river that has these issues then the problems will continue into the future.
What do they know of fishing who know only one fish and one way to fish for him?
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Olly
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Re: An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

Post by Olly »

Book launch was recently held in the New Forest and the book is available.

As to the roach they are surviving and breeding it seems. Strange but I cannot blame otters as they have been in the Hampshire Avon throughout.

Our rivers:- https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -chemicals

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Tengisgol
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Re: An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

Post by Tengisgol »

Coral Maestro wrote: Thu Oct 29, 2020 8:27 am These restocking projects are a wonderful thing but I can't help thinking that they don't address the real problem. I suspect habitat degradation is the culprit and if the issue is agricultural chemical usage in the catchment then that has to be controlled. If the problem is predation by cormorants or otters then that has to be addressed (perhaps by creation of sanctuary areas for the roach). If the problem is due to discharge from sewage works or fish farms then that has to be dealt with.
If you keep putting fish into a river that has these issues then the problems will continue into the future.
The Avon Roach Project wasn’t a conventional restocking programme. It is correct that there were/are underlying issues on the Hants Avon that led to a crash in roach stocks to a point where they couldn’t recover without intervention. Essentially what they did was collect and remove some of the spawn of the remaining roach in the river, hatched, protected and grew them on through the first two to three years of their lives and reintroduced them along the whole river as near-adult fish. They increased the survival rates thousands-fold and gave the roach population the kickstart it needed back to sustainable levels whilst retaining (or strengthening) the genetic purity. This combined with another key issue; the cessation of mechanical weed cutting (one of the key factors).

It really is worth getting the book.
Where the willows meet the water...

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Tengisgol
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Re: An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

Post by Tengisgol »

Pallenpool wrote: Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:58 pm
Tengisgol wrote: Sat Nov 16, 2019 7:49 am
Pallenpool wrote: Fri Nov 15, 2019 10:35 pm:read:

Yes, let’s wait for the book :tea:
Phil have you any updates as to how this project is progressing?
Many thanks and enjoy your fishing on the Aire.
:Hat:
We’ll never know the extent to which ARP actually contributed to the recovery of the roach stocks but you could now travel to the Avon this winter and expect to catch roach where ten years ago they were, in effect, gone. Obviously the cessation of mechanical weed cutting was a major factor and yes, fish stocks are cyclical. The ARP is now winding down and spawn is no longer being collected. There are I think one or two more years of fish to be placed back in the river and the doors will be closed for the last time. An amazing success story, let’s hope the Avon roach can continue to go from strength to strength.

The blog is here http://avonroachproject.blogspot.com/
Where the willows meet the water...

https://sites.google.com/site/tengisgol/

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Penninelad
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Re: An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

Post by Penninelad »

Just started reading the book. It makes fascinating reading.
Mark Davies

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Olly
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Re: An Avon roach (and a visit to the Avon Roach Project)

Post by Olly »

Two very dedicated anglers - with loads of helpers - an excellent outcome!

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