Re: Barton Court, River Kennet
It's a pity really. When I started my fisheries management career at Barton Court back in the early 1970's there was a good head of grayling present. Since then the Kennet & Avon Canal has opened, agricultural practices have changed beyond belief, human demand for water has increased exponentially, housing also with consequent surface water run-off; the trout farm has expanded and the sewage works, as usual, lagged behind in coping with the increases though it has improved since.
Finally, all these impacts on the water quality, were exacerbated by ill-advised dredging of the river and poor management practices in using the various sluice structures to maintain river level at the expense of river flow. The result here was increases in algal activity in the impounded sections causing the turbidity that adversely affected Ranunculus growth and visibility. We've had only a few years of trying to undo the ills of more than 40 years. It's going to take a few more yet, plus lots of money, to put things right - if indeed we can.
Grayling were once prolific on the upper Kennet, and could still be encountered as far down as Thatcham. Nowadays they are patchy. They are present in good numbers in some areas, but almost absent in others only a mile or so away. Not enough work is being done to ascertain why.
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