A project to restore the River Kennet to its former glory continued just before the river season began, with the stocking of 40,000 chub and barbel into the famous waterway.
The fish, which were mainly fry but also included 1,000 one-year-old juveniles, were produced at the Kennet Hatchery – a non-profit enterprise led by Reading and District AA alongside partner clubs.
It was the second batch to be released, and next year the project plans to double production. Using Kennet broodstock, the hatchery has been operating since last year, and the team behind it have also produced dace and roach.
RDAA President, Martin Salter, said: “Sadly, far too many people in angling spend their time and energy bemoaning the problems we face, rather than rolling up their sleeves and trying to do something about them.
“Here in the Kennet Valley we have a fabulous group of people who are putting in the hard yards to give our river a fishing future after the damage caused by signal crayfish, which reduced the successful recruitment of gravel-spawning species such as chub and barbel to negligible levels.
“We owe a big thank you to everyone who has donated to make this project a reality.”
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