Prymnesium on Hickling?

[JennyMorgan]

There is talk of thousands of dead fish on Hickling today, any news? Terrible if it is so, what with the spawning season just around the corner. A tragedy if true.

[JennyMorgan]

This report is on facebook:

Bad news from Hickling Broad.

Norfolk LO John Currie has been on Hickling Broad this afternoon and seen hundreds of dead fish including Roach, Bream, Eels, Perch & Pike. The cause will not be confirmed for a few days but John is 99% certain it is a Prymnesium parva outbreak.

JC has been with the EA team today and they have netted & moved approx twenty thousand fish. A second sweep of the nets was being carried out as we spoke and an equal amount of fish were due to be moved. Thanks to the EA team for working around the clock once again.

\there have been reports of dredging work taking place on Catfield Dyke but this is unconfirmed at the moment. Dan Hoare of the Broads Authority has stated the BA has not dredged in this area.

Is this an old report or a dreadful reality?

[Paul]

It does seem somewhat strange that as soon as dredging is scheduled for the Upper Thurne system a Prymnesium outbreak or potential outbreak is reported. The BA announced on it's website a while ago that dredging due to be taking place currently had been postponed. Perhaps there is no link between Prymnesium Parva and dredging after all and that the cause lies elsewhere?

[Guest]

Quite possible Paul, from what we've heard so far.

 

Another very pertinent fact is that the water level at Hickling is about a third of a metre lower than average, a significant current drop that is very noticeable throughout the Northern Broads.

 

Apparently this can also trigger an outbreak of Prymnesium parva, so dredging is by no means the only potential cause.

 

Perhaps it's fortunate that BA did postpone the dredging, or they would inevitably have got the blame, like the furore that rises from some Angling groups whenever it is scheduled.

[MauriceMynah]

"Norfolk LO John Currie has been..."

"JC has been with the EA team today..."

 

Sorry Peter, EA I know Environment Agency! But LO and JC escape me for the moment... Help please!

[JennyMorgan]

"Norfolk LO John Currie has been..."

"JC has been with the EA team today..."

 

Sorry Peter, EA I know Environment Agency! But LO and JC escape me for the moment... Help please!

JC, John Currie, LO Local Organiser (Club official)

[lurcher]

"Norfolk LO John Currie has been..."

"JC has been with the EA team today..."

 

Sorry Peter, EA I know Environment Agency! But LO and JC escape me for the moment... Help please!

Hi MM ,john is the Liaison officer for the PACGB in this region.

[JennyMorgan]

Liason, now that's three syllables, never thought of that one!

 

Still nothing positive? 

[lurcher]

John is on Hickling now,will post later after i get the chance to catch up with him.

[JennyMorgan]

John is on Hickling now,will post later after i get the chance to catch up with him.

This is beginning to look ominous, deaths like have been suggested just before spawning time could wipe out a whole year class of fish, the knock on effecting the area for several years to come.

[Poppy]

It would appear that Dredging is not the culprit - if it ever was....

 

http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/navigating-the-broads/urgent-boating-information/dredging-at-hickling

[lurcher]

spoke briefly to john & when he arrived yesterday there were in the region of 400 mostly small dead fish, although some larger pike,perch,eels,bream & roach were seen.Many more were in distress & the EA fisheries team had begun moving these to other areas of the system.

Today although several larger fatalities including bream to 5lb were seen its hoped that by last light roughly 150,000 fish will have been moved.

Although prymnesium is suspected the results of water quality tests will take a few days.

 

jimmy

[Timbo]

"New evidence has shown that the toxins produced by this alga are induced by physiological stresses, such as nitrogen and phosphorus depletion" Wiki

Isn't nitrogen and phosphorus the chemicals that they try to remove from the Broads when they 'clean' them up like at Barton?  Or am I being really thick tonight?

[JennyMorgan]

Yes, it has happened. Will these relocated fish spawn successfully this year I wonder? Well done, Environment Agency.

 

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment_agency_rescues_230_000_fish_from_hickling_broad_in_two_days_1_4001080

[Paladin]

An interesting comment appended to that EDP article..."It just a pity the broads wasn't a proper National Park as this area would then have the protection it deserves."

 

There appears to be a consensus that the Hickling problems result from a variety of causes. For example, chemicals leaching from adjoining land, increased salinity, ochre from the Brograve area, a lack of 'new' water being available as there is virtually no rainwater catchment area feeding the broad. One study I have read actually dismisses fish as being a conservation issue, other than as a food for bittern.

 

There are only two duties for a National Park Authority, conservation and promotion of enjoyment and understanding by the public (to paraphrase). Both of these have an impact on the management of Hickling Broad. The third duty imposed on the Broads Authority, of maintaining the navigation, is also something that affects the broad. If the broad gradually dies because of silting up and the gradual demise of the flora and fauna, conservationists, ordinary tourists and boaters will all lose out.

 

I suggest that, far from there being more protection if the national park status was other than a figment of the Authority's imagination, the fact that the Broads is NOT a national park adds an extra string to the bow of those who want to see the broad saved, conservationists, anglers, bird watchers, boaters, Uncle Tom Cobley and all.

 

I would imagine that the bottom of the broad is covered with a pretty noxious layer of silt. Tinkering around the edges won't change that situation. As the water level drops (or the silt level rises), any disturbance, whether it be by dredging or boating activities, will have the potential to cause problems for the fish. Before the cry goes up to ban boating (motor or sail), that will not solve the root cause. While we all know that Prymnesium Parva can cause fish death, the deposition of ochre on fish gills can also be lethal.

 

I know that the Broads Authority is not ignoring the situation and that there are considerable hurdles to overcome, but, at the risk of being called some unmentionable names, I would like to see funding being sought, from Europe or wherever, under the conservation tag, let the Broads tourism industry put their hands in their pockets, and, yes, I would even be prepared to pay a Hickling Broad Levy on my tolls, to pay for the overall dredging (not just the navigation channel) and cleaning up that is becoming more and more desparately needed.

 

It's a pity there isn't legislation, similar to Compulsory Purchase Orders, to enable the Authority to overcome the objections of obstructive landowners.

 

 

[Guest]

 .......It's a pity there isn't legislation, similar to Compulsory Purchase Orders, to enable the Authority to overcome the objections of obstructive landowners.....

 

I quite agree Paladin.

 

Safe and economic disposal of dredging spoil being crucial to maintaining the artificial balance of the Broads. Particularly in areas so susceptible to Prymnesium Parva.

 

Adjacent landowner's "reluctance" to accept spoil has to be overcome.

[JennyMorgan]

I understand that the BA does have the power of compulsory purchase, only it is reluctant to use it. My view is that they only have to use it once and land-owners will then be more willing to co-operate!

[JennyMorgan]

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/relocation_project_for_more_than_100_000_fish_in_the_norfolk_broads_as_algae_kills_thousands_1_4031023

[Guest]

.

[MauriceMynah]

The only contribution I can make is that over Easter I saw half a dozen dead pike I would estimate as up to 30 lbs on the broad. Tragic.

 

It has made me make one decision though, I shall no longer fish for pike on the broads. I have no idea how to handle a fish of that magnitude. (never even hooked one over 5 pounds!)

[Poppy]

"John Currie, of the Norwich Pike Anglers Club, said that the 
algae could also be disturbed by dredging." But it hasn't been,, has it - not on this occasion, nor the last time in March.

It's time the anglers looked elsewhere.

[Guest]

"John Currie, of the Norwich Pike Anglers Club, said that the 
algae could also be disturbed by dredging." But it hasn't been,, has it - not on this occasion, nor the last time in March.

It's time the anglers looked elsewhere.

 

I'd written something quite similar in the earlier post I then blanked out. 

 

So true Poppy.

[MauriceMynah]

In fairness, it's pretty much human nature to blame something that happened once as the culprit on each re-occurrence, but it would be handy to find the real reasons.

I'm sure I'm wrong but my logic says...

 

Dredging an area of water makes that water muddy.

Muddy water has less light at the bottom.

Less light means less algae bloom.

Dredging reduces algae bloom.

 

Discuss

[Poppy]

In fairness, it's pretty much human nature to blame something that happened once as the culprit on each re-occurrence, but it would be handy to find the real reasons.

I'm sure I'm wrong but my logic says...

 

Dredging an area of water makes that water muddy.

Muddy water has less light at the bottom.

Less light means less algae bloom.

Dredging reduces algae bloom.

 

Discuss

Doh! 

 

THERE HASN'T BEEN ANY DREDGING !   (Well, there has, on the Ant around Irsted, )

[MauriceMynah]

Poppy, I'm not saying there HAS been dredging recently in the Hickling area. What I AM asking is whether or not it was accurate to assess dredging as a cause in the past.

Thus if dredging has been blamed and that it was not dredging that caused the issue, have parties been barking up wrong trees thereby not looking for further possible causes?