BART are pleased to announce that we now own our own set of electrofishing kit. BART has been conducting electrofishing surveys for some time with partners, however we have now been able to raise sufficient funds for our own equipment.
Electrofishing is a fish surveying technique combining a mixture of electrical current with a known water conductivity to temporarily stun fish in order to measure and document the population and community fish statistics at a freshwater location. BART ensures that all members of their electrofishing team have adequate training and experiential learning to ensure that fish receive good animal husbandry and are returned to the watercourse in good health with zero impact upon the population as a result of the survey.
We hope to use this around the catchment to monitor fish populations to determine sites in need of improvement works and also to follow the success of future restoration works. We have already been out to survey the Norton Brook to guide future restoration plans there, and were pleased to find a good number of juvenile trout.
