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Exciting EA project gets underway at West Bromwich’s Dartmouth Park

21/1/2019

Dartmouth Park Pool gets a re-stocking by the EA.

An exciting project is underway in West Bromwich’s Dartmouth Park, West Midlands. It got a kick-start during the latest wave of fish stocking when 2,000 roach, 200 tench, 1,000 rudd and 300 bream were introduced to rejuvenate the pool.

Project manager Darin Alberry, fisheries technical officer at the EA explained: “Dartmouth Park was brought to the attention of the EA by the ‘Friends of Dartmouth Park’ who wanted to create a free fishing amenity with an offer of fishing tuition and a tackle loan programme to allow access to fishing to the under privileged youth in the area.

“After an initial advisory visit by myself, floating fish refuges were installed to create some habitat, but also to provide some cover from avian predators. Fisheries officers helped to build the first refuge.

“Additionally, the ‘Friends of Dartmouth’ have been working with the Angling Trust towards acquiring their fishing coaching badges.
“They have also purchased over £1,000 of fishing tackle to be solely used as a rod loan service,” Darin concluded.

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FISH STOCKING IS PART OF WIDER EFFORTS TO REVIVE ENGLISH RIVERS

18/1/2019

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Rowley DAS officials check on the barbel that have boosted the River Severn.

A fish stocking on one of Britain’s best barbel rivers could be key to improving angling action in the future.

Some 250 barbel went into a Rowley DAS stretch of the River Severn at Coalport in Shropshire. The introduction of the fish is

part of a scientific study being conducted by the Environment Agency.

The EA, in partnership with the club, are trying to understand whether stocking barbel into larger rivers like the River Severn will improve the health of fish stocks and improve angling.

Chris Bainger, fisheries technical specialist at the EA, explained: “The members of Rowley DAS have always worked very closely with us, even if the angling on the middle Severn has gone through the good times or bad.

“They have consistently provided timely fishing match catch returns for two decades which gives us a great insight to the health of river and its fish stocks.

“We have taken this opportunity backed by the historical data they have provided, to include this stretch of river and the catch returns from anglers as part of this study.

“We have acquired 250 10–18 inch two-year-old barbel from the rod licence funded fish farm at Calverton in Nottingham.
“These fish are purely river strain fish and have been reared in conditions that enhance their fitness for river life.

“Each of the fish are marked so that local anglers will be able to identify them as the stock fish from this year,” Chris concluded
RDAS committee member Max Taylor said: “We have already been assisting the EA in collecting additional data from the barbel we catch in our section of the river.

“A couple of summers back, Chris came along issued us with kits and trained us how to record the barbel we catch in detail.
“Firstly we would measure the length, record individual weight and remove some scales so that the fish can be aged.

“I am told this will give us a real good indication to the health of fish and this fishery in the River Severn compared to other rivers in the country like the River Trent, where very similar studies are happening,” Max added.

RDAS committee members have been informed of the capture of 13 of the marked fish from last year, with the majority of those recorded having been caught downstream in the Bewdley area during the Kidderminster DAA matches.

The River Severn was first stocked with barbel 62 years ago with large adult fish brought in from the River Kennet in Berkshire from then they colonised the river.

Subsequent stockings of barbel have never been as successful as that first initial stocking. Some fisheries scientists believe that is because barbel have now exploited and filled that available niche.
The Severn barbel were just one of a large number of fish stocking projects the EA has recently been involved in.

In the past four weeks 143,000 fish reared for up to 18 months have been released into 41 stillwaters and 30 rivers. Plenty more fish stocking is planned by the EA for the coming weeks.

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Fishing Republic gets Bought out of administration By Go Outdoors

14/1/2019

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Rotherham-based Fishing Republic has been bought out of administration by Go Outdoors.
A deal for the company, one of the largest retailers of fishing tackle in the UK, was confirmed at the end of 2018, saving 111 jobs.

At the time, Leonard Curtis Business Rescue & Recovery confirmed that Andrew Poxon and Julien Irving - who were appointed as Joint Administrators - completed the sale of the company to an unconnected third party.

Now Go Outdoors has been confirmed as the mystery buyer.

Based in Sheffield, Go Outdoors is a nationwide omni-channel retailer catering for the outdoor enthusiasts and was founded by Paul Caplan and John Graham in 1998. It was acquired by JD Sports Fashion plc in 2016.

Lee Bagnall, CEO of the Outdoor Division at JD Sports, said: "We're delighted to have secured the business and are very excited about the acquisition.

"Our GO Outdoors fishing business is already significant and this gives Fishing Republic and some of our branded partners a huge opportunity for the future."

Fishing Republic floated on the AIM stock exchange in 2015 and raised millions to help carry out its expansion plans. However, turnaround plans were required during 2017 to tackle "a significant deterioration in trading." Growth plans had been based on snapping up smaller competitors, opening destination stores and boosting online sales.

After certain major shareholders said that they were no longer willing to provide further short-term financial assistance, shares were suspended and the group's future options were being assessed. At the time of the deal Fishing Republic operated 14 UK stores.

It had previously been announced that Daniel Quinn, who has experience in senior commercial roles at Tesco and GO Outdoors, would be joining the Fishing Republic board as CEO in October 2018. However, the company was forced to admit that Quinn had agreed to assist in assessing options for the business but would not be taking up his role as CEO or join the board.

The business has continued to trade throughout and it is thought that Go Outdoors guaranteeing to keep staff on was a decisive factor in it being selected as the buyer.

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Exciting EA project gets underway at West Bromwich’s Dartmouth Park

FISH STOCKING IS PART OF WIDER EFFORTS TO REVIVE ENGLISH RIVERS

Fishing Republic gets Bought out of administration By Go Outdoors

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