13,000 new roach, chub and dace added to the River Great Ouse

Upper Great Ouse pollution recovery

The Environment Agency stocked 7000 roach, 5000 dace and 1000 chub as part of the recovery plan to help restore 25km of the river after it was affected by a major pollution An Environment agency worker is emptying a large bucket of small fish into the river. He is wearing a wet suit and crouched in the shallows on the river. incident in June 2018. These fish are all two summers old and ranged between 5 and 15cm.
These fish are really important, they will continue to kick start the fishery, adding to previous stockings from 2018 and earlier this year. Other efforts driving to improve the recovery of the river includes:
– Improving marginal features, creating planted berms and large in-channel features which provide cover and foraging areas for fish and other wildlife
– Working with landowners to carry out in river enhancement that increase flow speeds to reduce silt deposits and encourage natural processes. These improve fish spawning and invertebrate communities.
– Removing barriers to help fish migrate naturally, speeding up the recovery. We are funding the appraisal of a major barrier to improve fish passage in the middle of the affected length.
To learn more about how you can be involved in caring for the river in Buckingham, read about the River Wardens scheme on our Buckingham Parks page.
Two young fish are being handled by an Environment Agency Officer. The fish are golden brown.