The RSK Biocensus aquatic team dive into Cransley.

In house training days offer a lot more than what it says on the tin. They are an opportunity to learn from your peers through face to face knowledge exchange, ?an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a relaxed environment, and provide some time and space for personal development and team building. This is the case for the aquatic team; spread out across the country from Southampton to North Yorkshire , it’s not often that RSK Biocensus’ resident fish experts are all in one room (or boat, I should say…).

In February, the team met up at Cransley Reservoir in Northamptonshire. This was an opportunity for team members to catch up before the start of the 2023 field season, and for new recruits – such as myself – to get stuck in. It makes such a difference meeting people in person, rather than just on Teams!

Why Cransley, you might ask. Well, this small reservoir nestled into the Northamptonshire countryside has recently been purchased by its neighbours and sailing club in partnership with RSK. This new collaboration has nature conservation of the reservoir and its surroundings at the heart of its aims for the future management of the site. This was the first visit from the aquatic team, but we hope it will be one of many. The training day was used as an opportunity to familiarise ourselves with the site with a view to returning to complete a full suite of assessments, from invertebrates and fish to macrophytes and water quality, in the future.

Our day was, quite literally, action packed – a nice change for your average Monday in February! All the best days in the field start with a health and safety briefing, which we followed up with some fyke netting, where static conical shaped nets are set in the water to catch fish. After setting up the fyke nets, we brushed up on our boat skills and practiced some reverse parking and three point turns while we waited with eager anticipation to see what would be in our haul.

Next on the list for aquatic thrill seekers was seine netting, a technique new to several members of the team, which involves wading in the water. This seemingly made struggling to get into dry suits worthwhile… nobody wants wet undies in February! We finished the day with a quick recap on the use of electronic probes to monitor water quality. ?

Our haul for the day was modest at just 3 juvenile fish – each only an inch or two in size – but this was not unexpected for a chilly winter day. Perhaps more importantly, the team is now ready and raring to go for the 2023 season. The formal training was followed up by a very sociable evening, where Pete retained his title of boss both at the pool table and in the office!

This is likely to be the first of several trips various RSK teams will make to Cransley Reservoir. If you would like to know more about the reservoir please contact Nigel Austin directly at [email protected]?/ +44 (0)7713 214583.

For more information on our RSK Biocensus aquatic services, please speak to Pete Walker at [email protected]?/ +44 (0)7825 624154.?