Samples taken as University of Exeter hunts for traces of shad

It seems strange that even today we only have limited knowledge of what swims beneath the surface with angling records over decades often the only data available.

- by WAYNE THOMAS

ARNSTAPLE & District Angling Association, South Molton & District Angling Club, Taw Fishing Club, and the River Taw Fisheries and Conservation Association were all represented and issued with sampling equipment.

Samples have now been taken from selected sites ranging from the estuary in Barnstaple, tributaries on Exmoor’s fringe, and the central stem of the river in deepest rural Devon.

Exeter University will be analysing the samples to trace where shad have been present in the catchment. In addition to this further DNA testing will look for salmon, eels and lamprey.

While this testing is not a panacea to extensive knowledge it will start to build a valuable indication of fish migration within the river system.

We have without doubt lost much life in our rivers over recent decades without knowing what we once had.