Fishery Studies Resources

Fish holding facilities at the College can be divided into three main areas:

  • National Aquatics Training Centre
  • Atlantic salmon and trout hatchery
  • The Sparsholt Fishery

The National Aquatics Training Centre, completed in Spring 2004, remains an exciting development, still without match in the UK.

The building is a 650m² purpose-built fish house holding stocks of carp, catfish, tilapia and a massive range of ornamental species. The building features a large indoor koi pool, research areas and fully up-to-date holding systems, many sponsored by industrial contacts.

The Atlantic salmon and trout hatchery provides a facility for rearing cold water species. Supplied by borehole water, the site produces Atlantic salmon for the restocking programmes of the River Thames, brown trout for restocking local rivers and rainbow trout. It also provides a site for a number of commercial trials on fish feed for the largest fish food manufacturers in Britain.

The Sparsholt Fishery is a one-hectare lake, fed by water from the fish hatchery, which holds stocks of carp, roach, rudd, bream, crucian carp and tench. Students fish this lake as part of their courses or, on a day ticket basis, recreationally.

The Section has excellent contacts with sport fisheries across the south of England. For example, Sparsholt students and staff carry out much of the netting and electric fishing work for many of Hampshire’s fishing clubs and commercial fisheries.

In recent years, the Section has worked in France on several occasions to carry out fishery work, giving students excellent experience of fishery management in Europe.

All the College’s fish facilities are used by the students for practical training and project work.

Students also gain the opportunity to further their industrial experience during their courses, thanks to the extensive range of contacts the College has with fish farms, fisheries and Government organisations throughout the British Isles and beyond to all parts of the world.

The College hosts several fish farming, fishery and aquatics industry events each year and is recognised worldwide for its expertise in providing fishery studies training.

In recent Government inspections, the Section has been awarded top marks for the quality of its courses and is a Centre of Vocational Excellence for Fishery Studies.