It’s rare that electrocuting things (particularly when they’re alive) is for a good cause. However, this is one of those times.
Officials from the Environment Agency have been using specialist electrical equipment in the Hambledon Lock to stun fish this week. No, they’re not just really mean fishermen with a creative way of catching fish; these guys are conducting research into fish population and the general health of the river.
Adam Hilliard, the agency’s monitoring officer, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to see how well the different species are performing with the varying flows in the river.
“The survey provides us with a good picture of the population structure and range of fish species living in the river.”
The process involves connecting two anodes to the front of a boat, which are then lowered into the water and create an electrical shock. This then stuns the fish that are happily swimming past, allowing the guys on the boat to snag them with a net. Thankfully, the fish are then returned unharmed to the water after the stunning effect has worn off.
An Environment Agency spokeswoman said: “We use a generator which delivers a 0.12v charge, two to three amps of current, into the water.
“It’s important to emphasise that the equipment is very specialised and designed specifically not to harm fish and we only use professionally trained staff to carry out these types of surveys.
“The information gathered from these surveys is essential for understanding the health of fish populations and is used to drive improvements in the health and water quality of our rivers and still waters.”
By catching the different kinds of fish, which has included everything from carps to eels, the team can gain a good picture of how healthy the river is, and how this is affecting the general population of different types of fish.
River pollution is a serious problem. Everything from rubbish thrown casually into the river to chemicals can have an adverse effect on the balanced ecology of a river’s environment, and sudden changes in the water can have effects on the creature population.
Watch the video below to see the process in action:
