Solent & South Downs Fish Monitoring Report 2014 We are the Environment Agency. We protect and improve the environment and make it a better place for people and wildlife. We operate at the place where environmental change has its greatest impact on people’s lives. We reduce the risks to people and properties from flooding; make sure there is enough water for people and wildlife; protect and improve air, land and water quality and apply the environmental standards within which industry can operate. Acting to reduce climate change and helping people and wildlife adapt to its consequences are at the heart of all that we do. We cannot do this alone. We work closely with a wide range of partners including government, business, local authorities, other agencies, civil society groups and the communities we serve. Authors: D. Longley & P. Rudd Published by: Environment Agency Further copies of this report are available Horizon house, Deanery Road, from our publications catalogue: Bristol BS1 5AH www.gov.uk/government/publications Email: [email protected] or our National Customer Contact Centre: www.gov.uk/environment-agency T: 03708 506506 Email: [email protected]. © Environment Agency 2014 All rights reserved. This document may be reproduced with prior permission of the Environment Agency. 2 of 71 Foreword This is our eighth consecutive annual Solent and South Downs Area fish monitoring report and we hope you find it useful. Its purpose is to provide details of all the fish surveys undertaken in 2014, to present the results and, where appropriate, to set these in the context of previous years' results as well as environmental data such as for flow and temperature. It is written primarily for the angling community but also for people and organisations of all kinds with an interest in rivers, coastal waters and the fish they support. Our 2014 fish monitoring programme was dominated by Water Framework Directive (WFD) surveys, the majority of which were in West Sussex and included a high proportion that had never been visited before. As a result, surveys were less focused on specific fisheries and more on a wide range of less studied tributaries and reaches. Collectively, this yields a great deal of valuable fish data, providing us with an evidence base not only to improve ecology as part of our WFD work but also to underpin more effective fisheries management. The fish monitoring programme was undertaken as scheduled, between April and October, with only minor postponements and no cancellations. River surveys involved electric fishing, either from a boat or wading, while estuary surveys used seine and fyke netting, beam and otter trawling. Details of various survey types are given in the section titled: "Interpreting results". Readers of this report in previous years will know that we emphasise the relevance of weather data on our fish survey results and in recent years there has been no shortage of anomalous weather that has undoubtedly affected local fish populations. However, 2014 set new benchmarks on this front, with the Met Office reporting that winter 2013/14 was the stormiest in twenty years, with a succession of twelve major winter storms between December and February. It was also the wettest in their England and Wales precipitation series dataset, since 1766. In Romsey in December 2013, our rain gauge recorded just over 210% of the average rainfall for that month: in January it was 323%. With local rivers severely flooded from source to sea, it's clear that this extreme weather influenced fish communities, coarse, game and sea, and this is an important aspect of the various discussion sections throughout the report. Acknowledgements The collection of this essential fish population data would not be possible without the support and assistance of the landowners, fishing clubs, river keepers, farmers and land agents who kindly allowed us access to their rivers in 2014 and in many cases provided valuable local knowledge and advice. 3 of 71 Executive summary • We conducted 88 fish population surveys across Solent & South Downs area in 2014: 46 for Water Framework Directive classification of freshwaters; 26 for WFD estuaries (Southampton Water & Adur); 6 for juvenile salmon (Test); 2 for juvenile wild brown trout (Meon), 5 for Principal Coarse Fisheries (Western Rother) and 3 surveys connected to specific habitat enhancement projects. • As expected, Water Framework Directive surveys reflected a broad spectrum in the quality of fish communities at contrasting survey sites, from quite severely damaged environments to those that are virtually pristine. Surveys conducted in 2014 provide evidence of pressures on fish communities resulting from, amongst other factors, barriers to migration, habitat degradation, poor water quality and the presence of non-native invasive species. • The six Principal Salmon River surveys conducted on the Test in 2014 suggested that parr abundance in 2014 was amongst the lowest recorded, probably as a result of the impacts of floods on spawning conditions and juvenile habitat during the previous winter. • Wild brown trout surveys on the Meon revealed high numbers of juveniles at Mislingford but average numbers at Titchfield (Silver Springs), suggesting that the key trout spawning grounds in the middle reaches were not adversely impacted by the previous winter's flooding. • Western Rother Principal Coarse Fishery surveys showed a continuation of very low abundance of coarse fish in general, particularly dace and roach. • Estuarine fish monitoring in Southampton Water yielded relatively large catches, with the third highest total number of fish caught in spring (out of eight survey years) and also the third highest in autumn. The dominant species in both seasons were sand smelt, common goby, juvenile bass and juvenile herring. • Estuarine fish monitoring on the Adur produced the second lowest spring catch but the highest autumn catch to date. The dominant species were juvenile bass, common goby and sand goby. 4 of 71 Rivers of Solent & South Downs East: West: 5 of 71 Contents Foreword ....................................................................................................................................... 3 Executive summary ...................................................................................................................... 4 Rivers of Solent & South Downs ................................................................................................. 5 Contents ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Temperature and rainfall .............................................................................................................. 7 Interpreting results ..................................................................................................................... 10 1. East Sussex .......................................................................................................................... 12 1.1. Ouse and Cuckmere .......................................................................................................................................... 12 2. West Sussex ......................................................................................................................... 16 2.1. Adur ................................................................................................................................................................... 16 2.2. Arun ................................................................................................................................................................... 22 2.3. Western Rother & Western Streams ................................................................................................................. 26 3. Isle of Wight........................................................................................................................... 34 4. Hampshire ............................................................................................................................. 38 4.1. East Hampshire ................................................................................................................................................. 38 4.2. Test & Itchen ..................................................................................................................................................... 45 5. Estuarine Fish Monitoring ...................................................................................................... 56 5.1. Southampton Water ........................................................................................................................................... 56 5.2. Adur Estuary ...................................................................................................................................................... 65 6. Fish monitoring in 2015 ......................................................................................................... 69 List of abbreviations .................................................................................................................. 70 Glossary .................................................................................................................................... 70 6 of 71 Temperature and rainfall The quality of river fisheries is very dependent on weather because fish survival and growth are so strongly