As reported in the Herald, no fish were caught during the River Sid fish lift event a week ago, but volunteers are confident about the future:
Charles Sinclair, chair of the River Sid Catchment Group, said: “A fascinating though disappointing result from the fish lift today. The large number of fish jumping last week have vacated the weir pool, probably because of predation by cormorants. This reinforces the need to modify School Weir so that fish can naturally migrate. The fish lifts are not a satisfactory substitute for an open river, and the predation at the weir pool is a devastating end to many fish.”
As also reported in the Herald recently, Sticklebacks are back in the River Sid, Sidmouth:
“Catchment Group volunteers regularly don their wellies and grab their nets to check on the health of the river by surveying at various places around the catchment, particularly the small creatures such as mayfly nymphs.” Ed Dolphin continues: “The most common local fish found are bullheads, plus some minnows and stone loach, all hopeful indicators of a fairly healthy river, but sticklebacks had not been found in the main river. This is not a good sign because sticklebacks are generally very common in rivers and ponds, and even hedgerow ditches. But, this month, one of the volunteers caught a dozen small fish that turned out to be sticklebacks, which is more good news for the health of the river.”
.jpg){kind=link}
Meanwhile, this website The Sid – Helping improve the river has some pages on Fish in the River Sid – including Lamprey fish on the River Sid, Trout along the Snod and Species recovery on the River Sid.
It also asks the question: What is a fish without a river? Indeed, what is a river without a fish?’
There are some interesting reports about fishing along the Sid – and here’s a report from July on a 45 cm sea bass caught it at Sidmouth,where the river Sid meets the sea on low tide.
…