February 2024 saw the launch of the River Kennet Hatchery Project, which CALPAC are proud to be a part of.
The idea of the project was conceived by RDAA, who found the site, secured the funding, and constructed the building and hatchery facilities within.
The purpose of the project is to remove brood stock of the following species, Barbel, Chub, Roach, and Dace at the correct time, and move them into tanks in the hatchery. Once the fish are ready to spawn, the eggs and milt will be mixed together, and placed into special tanks until they hatch. Once the eggs have hatched, the feeding process will start, to grow the fry on.
Once the fry reach 6 weeks old, 70% of them will returned to the river at designated places known to be good spawning areas. The other 30% will be grown on in the tanks until they reach 1 year old. They will then be returned to the river at similar sites.
The idea behind this process, is to bypass the crayfish in the food chain, as they only feed on the eggs. It is with hope, that continually doing this for the next ten years will increase the fish stocks in the Kennet to a very healthy status. This should also become more detrimental to the crayfish as time goes by, because the adult fish will be feasting on those instead. The tables will have hopefully been turned!!
February 2025 – Dace have been spawned. There are approximately 50000 eggs waiting to hatch.
Kennet Hatchery Project 1st Year Report
CALPAC 