Drought advice from EA

Advice note to stillwater fisheries

Drought status confirmed for parts of East and South Yorkshire: protect fish and other wildlife

Water situation update

As you are aware official drought status has been confirmed for parts of East and South Yorkshire. This is due to a lack of rain in South Yorkshire and low groundwater levels in East Yorkshire combined with a dry weather forecast. The drought status applies to catchments of the rivers Don, Rother, Derwent and Hull. As the dry spell is set to contintue over the coming months we are going to see lower river levels and some small becks drying up which will affect fish and other wildlife.


Suggested advice to stillwater fishery managers and owners

We recommend that you consider the following actions in order to minimise the risk of fish mortalities:

Ø Keep a close watch on water levels and look for any signs of fish in distress. Visiting the water early in the morning will allow you to observe your fishery when dissolved oxygen levels are at there lowest.
Ø To help maintain water levels repair leaky sluices or control structures so as to preserve valuable water resources.
Ø Consider restricting the use of bait and ground bait to avoid unnecessary pressure on water quality.
Ø Minimise the use of keepnets. If a match is planned consider using multiple weigh-ins to avoid unnecessary stress to fish stocks.
Ø Avoid stocking further fish.
Ø Consider reducing fish stock densities to avoid problems later with reducing water levels and low dissolved oxygen levels. Prior to moving any fish, a consent is required from the Environment Agency, which is designed to reduce both the spread of fish disease and non-native species.
Ø With the potential of low water levels and high temperatures, care must be taken over fish welfare.
Ø If you believe your fishery may be at risk from low dissolved oxygen levels due to algal growth, low water levels, elevated temperatures or over-crowding - be prepared - and check that you have access to water pumps, aeration equipment[1] and generators.

Please note:

Ø Talk to us before you relocate fish, as our written consent is required. This is designed to reduce the spread of both fish diseases and non-native fish species.
Ø We won’t normally rescue fish. However, in exceptional circumstances, we may consider an emergency fish rescue if we can find somewhere safe to move them to and on the condition that the fish have been health screened within the last 6 months.
Ø Please report any dead carp to us immediately as this may be due to a disease outbreak.

If you see any fish in distress please tell us immediately by calling our National Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60

We have included a poster with this advice note, which you may wish to put up in an appropriate location at your fishery.
Thank you for your support in helping us minimise the impacts of the dry weather. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and keep you updated. For further assistance or advice, please contact our area Fisheries, Recreation and Biodiversity team on 03708 506 506
[1] You can get aeration equipment locally from companies listed in the Yellow Pages or online.