Birmingham Anglers Association

from what i know about Barbel stocking on rivers, where they end up is hit and miss, i caught an EA stocked fish around 10 miles from where it was put in, . you can put them in what we would regard as perfick for Barbel but they push off elsewhere, in some cases navigating weirs to get there. What is worrying is that rivers need re-stocking, even the once prolific River Kennet, its Barbel once used to stock other rivers, is now having to be re-stocked itself. A sad reflection on the abilities of Natural England, the EA and canals and river trust to protect fish. Small barbel are just food for cormorants and the like, bigger fish otters. there are simply not enough Barbel reproducing to sustain, never mind increase, stock levels but the various bodies responsible just keep saying the rivers are cleaner than ever. and look there's lots of apex predators ( otter ) everything must be fine.