In my experience it's rare that things keenly anticipated always live up to expectations, but this past weekend has confounded that experience.  As I said last week, I was down at Sparsholt College in Hampshire over the weekend on a fishery management course and have returned abuzz with ideas and enthusiasm.  Oh dear!  Sparsholt is a massive agricultural college with an internationally renowned aquaculture faculty that works in partnership with all the leading bodies in the UK involved with fish and fishing.

I'll give you just a taster of what we did over the two days but I would encourage anyone who is serious about their fishing be it game or course angling to go on this course as the benefits far outweigh the very reasonable cost of £170.

We assembled as a pretty mixed bunch of 23 students with a diverse range of interests ranging from game fishers to quite a few who are in the process of buying lakes in France to establish commercial carp fisheries.  This mix proved one of the real benefits of the course as we learnt to appreciate the concerns and issues of the subjects we studied from a pretty wide perspective.  We kicked off looking at how a fish ticks via a practical autopsy on a reluctant volunteer rainbow trout.  This was a great intro to the rest of the course as by gaining a good understanding of fish anatomy and how it works we got a valuable in-site into how fish react to their environment and the actions we take as managers to control that environment.

We then moved on to consider exactly that subject with the head of the fisheries unit taking us through fish ecology and how we should ensure that our management practises are based on sound ecological principles.  After a short lunch we went to see the new fish house which is truly impressive and provides a facility for studying all aspects of fish breeding and management.  Here we learnt about the science of fish feeding and the need to consider the right stocking density for each species.  As an example we looked at a tank of cat fish living at a high density per cubic meter of water which we were told often prompted some questions about over crowding on public open days at the centre.  The truth is that below a given density these strange creatures turn cannibalistic and eat each other.  we then had a tour of the new 2 acre lake and hatchery which for me sparked a lot of thoughts about our own Tarn and plans for the hatchery site.

In the afternoon we had a practical review of fishery maintenance and improvement and I came away from this with a sense of reassurance that our own plans are sound and well founded on current good practise principles.  We ended the day by considering some of the practical issues associated with fishery maintenance such as weed and silt control (not a major problem on the Ribble) and water quality.

Day two introduced us to some methods of stock assessment and management and it was a real eye opener for me to appreciate just how valuable some course stock can be with a 40lb carp valued at around £5k.  No wonder carp fishermen start to sweat when they see cormorants.  We wound up on a real high note with an excellent practical demonstration of how to assess fish health.  This session saw us back in the laboratory for a guided tour of a carp sushi looking for parasites and other clinical evidence of disease.  I now feel I have the confidence to do a few autopsies next season and whilst I am unlikely to know exactly what I am looking at I should have a fair idea when what I'm seeing is wrong.

So, two specific benefits of the weekend.  A brilliant  idea for deterring cormorants which is cheap, easy to construct , unobtrusive and above all effective and also a good working understanding of fish biology and what to look for when things go wrong.  But, overall I came away with a sense of reassurance that I know more than I thought I did about practical fishery management  and a renewed confidence to apply some of my knowledge to the benefit of the fishery and its members.

I know this is a pretty long posting but bear with me just a little longer for two more issues.  I am due to see the local police this evening at a parish meeting and will raise the question of member safety that I talked about back in August.  I will post up the advice I get on the secure area of this blog so if you are a member of the MAA and want to access this area then please email me with your preferred password (about 6 letters) so that I can set up access for you. You will get a confirming email when access is enabled.

Finally, back to normal next week with a return to regular postings on a Sunday.

Ian