EA Extend Trout Stocking Consultation

The Environment Agency's consultation on the future of trout stocking in rivers in England and Wales has been extended to January 18, 2008. So, if you are an angler, fisheries owner or fish farmer and you have not yet made your views known then contact the EA now.

Details of the trout stocking review and research can be found on the Environment Agency's web site at www.environment-agency.gov.uk . For further information e-mail: trout.stocking.review@environment-agency.gov.uk, or write Dr. Brian Shields, Trout Stocking Review, Environment Agency, Richard Fairclough House, Knutsford Road, Latchford, Warrington, Cheshire WA4 1HT. Alternatively, telephone 08708 506506 and ask for an information pack.

The Environment Agency believes long-term future of native wild trout populations is being put at risk by current stocking practices. That is the finding of an extensive review of more than 300 scientific papers looking at the potential genetic impact of stocking on wild brown trout populations.

"Our wild trout populations are still likely to be genetically diverse despite many decades of stocking, so we still have plenty worth protecting and enhancing. But there are concerns that the continued stocking of farmed fertile brown trout poses a real threat to the future survival of wild brown trout populations when the two successfully interbreed," explained Environment Agency Fisheries Scientist Brian
Shields.

"Stocking trout has been a widely practiced and legitimate fishery management tool for more than 100 years. An estimated one million farm-reared fertile brown trout are released into rivers in England and Wales every year to satisfy the demands of game anglers. We need to be sure we get the right balance between protecting native wild brown trout and continuing to stock rivers to meet the needs of anglers and fisheries owners. This review of the scientific evidence helps us to do this and informs our on-going consultation on how we stock trout in the future. But we also need to know what anglers, fisheries owners and fish farmers think.

Most farmed fish have been subject to long term domestication and are bred for an attractive appearance and rapid growth rates, but they are not well suited to survival in the wild. When farm-reared brown trout breed with wild trout their offspring do not survive as well as those of true wild trout, meaning you have less adults to produce the next generation. Using sterile stocked trout or locally-reared juveniles are likely to be better options."