Updated Saturday 4th February 2012.
Habitat Consultancy
***
( Fully Booked until JULY 2012 )***
Time spent on establishing the ideal environment for any species is never
wasted. Whatever the cost it will always work out a great deal cheaper in the
long run to ensure that whatever the project, be it a new lake venture or an old
established venue, the habitat is as pristine as is possible. Apart from the
obvious but often neglected duty of care that all species have a right to
expect.
Wherever you are in the world and whatever your project the primary
route to establishing a successful outcome is to ensure that every care is
taken to provide a secure and self sustaining habitat whatever the water volume.
We will always refuse contracts when they are geared towards a specific species
as only a balanced habitat will ever be worthwhile. As an example, one of
Europe's major match angling venues recently contacted us to ask if we could
improve the quality of the silver fish, mainly Roach, as they were becoming ever
smaller. In the past the owners had always removed and killed predators such as
Pike and Perch in the commonly mistaken belief that these predators were
damaging the fishing.
This approach is misinformed and potentially dangerous in terms of both
disease and poor gene lines.
We refused to become involved for two very good reasons. Firstly we never
take on match venues. Anglers that only have an interest in catching fish in
large numbers so that they can pile them up in a keep-net for hours on end have
no interest whatsoever with regards to caring for the fish.
We appreciate that our attitude to this form of 'sport', and we use the term
loosely, will certainly anger many of those who prefer this type of fishing
but pick up any general angling paper or magazine and you will see dozens of fish laying in a heap either being weighed or photographed.
Many of the fish incur serious damage especially those that are on the bottom of
the pile let alone the ones who, in the anglers haste to get more fish, are
unceremoniously unhooked and roughly tossed into the net. We are not against match
angling in principle, but we are very much against the way it is done.
Our second reason for refusing the contract was that to
specifically favour any species to the exclusion of all others will always end
in long term problems. A balanced habitat needs predators. They remove the
smaller, weaker fish and in doing so help prevent disease and the inevitable
poor gene lines that will eventually bring the owners of such venues to us to
seek advice. It is however possible to use the habitat itself to create an ideal
environment that 'favours' the target species but it has to be balanced
to work properly in a sustainable way so that all species have their own niche.
Whatever the project, from small lakes to 100,000 acre
reservoirs or rivers, there has to be a natural balance.
We stopped taking on small lake designs of a few acres some
years ago in favour of more substantial habitat projects worldwide but the basic
principles remain the same and must be adhered to if the inhabitants of the
venue are to thrive. At around the same time that we decided to focus our
attention on larger environments
we also closed our client facilities in most of Europe as we were constantly
exasperated by the attitude of the Environment Agency, bait and tackle
manufacturers, many fishery owners and to some extent the anglers themselves. A
course to disaster, particularly the spread of SVC, was anticipated well before
the onset of many of the problems now facing the industry but at the time no-one
had any interest in anything other than profit, a situation we could not be part
of especially as very few people were prepared to listen to our protests. It
gives us no satisfaction whatsoever to say 'we told you so' to the many
fisheries with problems, it is just sad that the typical blindness that seems to
accompany profit margins has such dire consequences for the fish themselves. As
a result we have concentrated our European presence on research only via our
behavioural unit in N Devon and only very rarely consider contracts within the
EU.
In summary, we will always give fair consideration to all
proposals whether they come from individuals or large organisations and
governments but we will
always refuse unless the objective is one that we can agree is viable for all
species involved.
Of course we are only too aware of the financial constraints
that surround all projects and we also understand that compromises often have to
be made if a project is to prove viable, but unless there is a way to ensure
that the end result is one that we feel is beneficial to the fish as well as the
clients bank balance we will reject the application. This is not an
emotional decision, it's a logical one that applies to both us and the client
and benefits all concerned.
If you would like us to consider any habitat related problem
anywhere in the world your first step is to contact us to arrange an initial
discussion, an online form is provided on the 'Contact' page. There is no
obligation on either party or initial charge at this stage but please be aware
that we are probably one of the most expensive companies in the field of habitat
design and correction so you may wish to look around for help elsewhere before
contacting us. We do not compete for contracts or submit tenders, we have
neither the time or inclination to do so especially as most of our clients come
via recommendation and there is always a waiting list for our services.
So, unless you can agree with the basic principles as outlined
above and are serious about doing your very best for the fish as well as your
finances you would be wasting both your time and ours by contacting us.
One fact in life encompasses any purchase or request for
advice and that is that you always get what you pay for, and we can confidently
claim to be the best there is.
( Fully
booked Until July 2012
)
