My dream job
I first started fishing when I was 11 on a holiday to Normandy in France. Whilst staying in a traditional farm cottage with a small brook running through the grounds, I convinced my mum to buy me a small whip …
A lifelong passion that keeps reeling me in
Nick Beardmore joined the Environment Agency in 1999 as a water baliff. Between 2006 and 2011, he also worked as a water sampler alongside his enforcement work. For the past five years he has been a full time fisheries enforcement …
Inside the Environment Agency's fish lab
From dissections and fish health checks to fish mortality investigations and talking to fishery owners, no 2 days are ever the same here at Brampton fish lab. People in the industry sometimes refer to us as fish choppers, but there’s …
Norfolk's 5 seasons
While we definitely feel the 4 seasons in Norfolk, we also experience another - the saline season. During this (generally) cold, wet and windy season (September through to March), surge tides push saltwater into the tidal rivers. However, add a …
Working together to restore rivers to their natural glory
Not many people realise that for years, rivers have been altered by man for a variety of reasons such as land drainage, preventing erosion and providing water supplies. Now, in Cumbria, three rivers in the Derwent, Eden and Kent catchments, have been …
Getting 'reel' value for rod licence fee payers
Not a lot of people realise how varied my job as a fisheries officer can be. One day I can be carrying out specialist fish surveys and the next, it will be all hands to the pump to assist a …
Fisheries team rescues hundreds of fish... and a plastic duck
...us to go in and rescue the fish - a job for me and my colleagues in the fisheries team. The River Tarrant in Dorset is a little gem of...
Putting fish on the ‘highway’ to success
We’ve been working to allow fish to migrate freely up and down two of Yorkshire’s rivers, taking rivers back to how they would have been before the industrial revolution. In the last few months we’ve made significant additions to Yorkshire’s …
Out on patrol with our fisheries enforcement team in Cheshire
I love my job because every day I deal with something new. As a Fisheries Officer, I'm involved in lots of different work that is aimed at protecting fish in my local area. One of my main duties is to carry …
Working together to create a better place for fish
I am a fisheries project officer for the Environment Agency, before that I also worked for the National Rivers Authority, and I have been involved with fishing for over 13 years. I started life as a water bailiff, a job …