The Environment Agency has installed CCTV to improve fish stock information.
The Sony Netstation and Sony digital recording equipment are being used by the government agency on the Rivers Itchen and Test in Hampshire to monitor the timing and numbers of migrating salmon and sea trout – now classed as endangered species due to low stock levels there.
About the site
Each year, the agency maintains a fish migration database. CCTV equipment is assisting in the accurate provision of essential verification information. Environment Agency fisheries scientist Dr Adrian Fewings says: ?The importance of this counting procedure cannot be underestimated as the Itchen and the Test are just two of six remaining chalk rivers that still have salmon stocks. The Sony equipment not only allows us real time checking on site, it also gives confirmation of our quality assurance procedures, whilst reducing the number of site visits required to maintain this vital service.?
About the application
The agency is the regulatory body for fisheries in England and Wales and is responsible for the long-term studies covering river flows required to maintain fish migration in both these rivers. Upwards of 400 salmon and sea trout annually migrate from the Itchen and more than 1,000 on the River Test. The agency needs to be able to differentiate between salmon and sea trout as they migrate into the rivers. To do this, they use a NSHEB MkX fish counter, a logging personal computer fitted with custom software and an image grabber card to collect data in real time. Using sensors in the river, photographic images and measurement of each individual fish are collected during the migratory season and stored on PCs on the riverbank. Each site has its own Sony HSR digital recorder, which runs continuously and, at any stage, operators can review the images stored against the sensor images collected by PC. Dr Fewings says: ?This Sony digital recording facility provides added quality assurance and confirms that migrating fish have been accurately monitored as part of the fish stock database.? The information is detailed enough for the Environment Agency to have sizable amount of detail on each fish as part of this valuable database of information, used by staff for constant evaluation. Previous use of time lapse videos required staff site visits every two days. The new equipment means that each site needs visiting once a week, providing a major cost saving. With the Sony NetStation that uses ISDN links, Environment Agency staff can look at these computer files without the need to visit the site. Images can be remotely monitored and controlled over the agency?s network. Thanks to a Sony NetStation facility, staff can check each site on a more frequent basis, by means of virtual site checks, which enables them to detect any on-site problems. Visit www.sonybpe.com
