1,000 juvenile barbel were released into the River Lea at Kings Weir and Fishers Green as part of a project to help restore its population, reports Marco Marcelline

The Environment Agency has issued an appeal to anglers along the River Lea, asking them to spot barbels with a blue mark tattooed on them.

Last November, fisheries staff from the Environment Agency released 1,000 juvenile barbel into the river Lea at Kings Weir and Fishers Green as part of a project to help restore historical populations of barbel in the Old River Lea. 

The fish were sourced from the Environment Agency’s National Coarse Fish Rearing Unit, funded by rod license income.

However, the Environment Agency ‘tattooed’ the fish with a blue mark and requested that anglers report any captures of marked barbel.

This helps gather important information on barbels’ survival, growth rates and how far the fish are moving up and downstream. The Environment Agency asks that any photos should be taken on both sides of the fish and a record of the length and weight if possible.

This information will help show how successful the stocking is compared with natural breeding within the river, according to the new juveniles will also help increase the natural stocks of barbel in the River Lea in the long term.

Environment Agency fisheries team leader for Berkshire Peter Gray said: “We’ve responded to concerns of anglers about declining fish stocks, including barbel, and this project will give us some good data to monitor barbel populations.

“The work will also help anglers, and ourselves, increase our knowledge of fish populations in the river, growth-rate and just how far up and downstream the barbel migrates. It will give us great information on how well they are thriving.”

If you catch a barbel from the Lea with the blue mark, let the Environment Agency know by emailing [email protected] with a photo, location and size and weight of the fish

If you see fish in distress or have concerns about possible pollution, please call the Environment Agency incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60

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