‘Barbus Barbus…Ruler Of The River Or Prince Of The Pool’

By Stewart Bloor​

Should barbel be stocked in stillwaters or left alone to inhabit their natural river environment? Certainly a question that raises a variety of beliefs, with some of the debate getting quite heated. I guess we all have our opinions on the subject. Mine is that barbel belong in rivers and that their stocking into stillwaters should be discouraged as much as possible. I want to use this article to explain why, after considering the subject carefully, I arrive at that position.

I think it’s important that whatever opinion we have in angling (or anything, for that matter), we have because we have weighed up the facts. The kind of person who rants, raves, threatens and abuses will never win anyone over to his way of thinking. Even if his way of thinking is right, because of his attitude, others will be turned off.

One of the things we need to bear in mind when we talk about barbel and stillwater, is that we are talking about ‘Barbus barbus’, the species found here in Britain. I mention that because there are 38 species of ‘Barbus’ in Europe, and not everyone of that number requires the habitat that our own barbel does. That’s an important point to consider, particularly when we are told about the barbel that thrive in European stillwaters. Remember, although they bear the name barbel, they are not the same species as ‘barbus barbus’.

Although now present in many of our rivers, the barbel is in fact a stocked fish in most of them, including the Severn. It’s hard to imagine, particularly those of us that have grown up with the Severn as a barbel river, that prior to 1956 it wasn’t the bronzed bullet haven that it is today. From just 509 stocked fish, we now have 100 miles of excellent barbel fishing available. Other rivers also bear out the fact that barbel thrive when stocked (Bristol Avon, Dane, Ribble, Wye etc).

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for stillwaters. The reason is quite simple – barbel do not belong there. They are not in their natural environment.

Barbel are a lithophilous species, which put simply means that they require flowing water and gravel to reproduce. The Environment Agency advise ‘that it is dubious practice to deliberately stock barbel into habitats where they are expected to live on a catch and release basis while being very unlikely to be able to spawn successfully’. (Quoted from Barbel Society literature).

Barbel in stillwaters are an ‘attraction’ and help to promote the water, but at what cost to the fish? The Barbel Society state they ‘are stocked into commercial stillwaters without any thought for the fish themselves but for financial gain – greed!’. Who, by taking an open, rational view of the subject, can disagree with that?

Barbel are well known for the ability to move up and down the river system, often covering great distances. This is not available to them in commercial stillwater. They are limited to the boundary of the pool in which they find themselves.

Take a stillwater in the heat of summer. Fish such as tench and carp thrive in that environment, that’s often the time of year in which to target them. But the poor barbel suffers. They are less tolerant of low oxygen levels and high water temperatures than the previously mentioned fish. Rather than see a barbel basking in the sun as one sees carp, you are more likely to see it gasping for air at the surface, like a goldfish in a bowl. In fact, for barbel, the lethal concentration of oxygen is almost twice as high as it is for tench. Even when barbel are bred in fish farms, for stocking into stillwater, there is the need for extra oxygenation. That oxygen dependency is not catered for when put into the stillwater.

One of the nastier sides of the modern angling scene involves fish stealing. The two main sought after species are carp and barbel. Now, please don’t misunderstand me here, and I am not justifying it even by a tiny percentage, but, when carp are taken they are usually put into a similar type of environment. But with the barbel, it invariably involves being taken from a fresh, fast flowing river and then being transferred to a pond. There is no consideration of the needs of the fish whatsoever. It is simply providing the angler with the convenience of catching barbel without having to venture out on the river. In fact, barbel theft is so rife from the Teme, that BAA have regular patrols to prevent this criminal act.

So critical is the environment that barbel find themselves in, as far as being conducive to their welfare, that even rivers, when disturbed significantly, have an affect upon the fish. For example, stretches of the Lee and Teme, when bankside work involved the removal of vegetation, meant a serious decline in the barbel inhabiting that stretch. What happened, is that the fish moved to a part of the river that suited them. This option is not available for stillwater barbel.

I’ve made reference in this article to the Barbel Society. I asked their Chairman, Steve Pope to supply a quote specifically for this item , which you can read below. Steve proved very helpful as I researched, sending me an article by Dr Paul Garner that appeared in ‘The Barbel Fisher’ (number 10) dealing with stillwater barbel. Paul certainly deals more scientifically with the subject than I have chosen to do here. But for those who are interested in delving deeper, I would recommend the article. Information on the Barbel Society is at the end of this article.

So what did Steve Pope have to say? …"Barbel fishing is undoubtedly one of the great angling experiences, catch your first barbel from a beautiful fast flowing river and you will surely understand what I mean. I suppose I could give you many reasons, some factual, some philosophical as to why I believe so passionately that barbel should not be in stillwaters; but I won’t do that here. Instead I will put to you that barbel fishing is about so much more than merely catching the fish; It truly encompasses all that we as anglers cherish and hold dear. The escape to wild waters, flowing waters, waters that are alive, waters that quite simply have a soul. Rivers. This then is where the Prince of the River resides, the most majestic and sporting of fishes, our friend the barbel. No one should have to travel too far these days to find a river that holds barbel, so go on and get down to the riverbank and catch one, a wild and powerful creature – not a commodity. Swim wild, swim free’

I also spoke with Dr Andy Orme, who amongst other things runs a predominantly barbel fishery on the River Teme. Andy’s site is www.zyworld.com/andyorme. This is what he had to say…"I am completely opposed to the stocking of barbel into any stillwaters for three reasons:

1) Barbel are adapted to thrive in rivers and it is fundamentally cruel to force them to live in an environment to which they are not suited.

2) It reflects very badly on the sport of angling as a whole because it suggests that anglers are unconcerned about the welfare and health of their quarry.

3) The creation of a commercial market for barbel encourages unscrupulous people to steal them from rivers. It should be banned immediately"

The Barbel Society has a membership in excess of 1,200 including the most well known and successful barbel anglers in the country, as well as complete novices. Membership runs from June 16 and costs £15.50. Included in the price are two magazines and three glossy newsletters plus access to top barbel fisheries. It’s an open membership, as Steve said to me, ‘We welcome all those who basically enjoy barbel and barbel fishing’. Steve can be contacted on Stevepope@btinternet.com. He will gladly send you further details on joining the Society.