Usk Fish Finds (UFF) was a project funded by the John and Elizabeth Gibbs Trust aiming to utilise WUF’s historical electrofishing data to investigate the condition of the River Usk’s lesser discussed species such as bullhead, stone loach and European eel.
John and Elizabeth Gibbs have a long history of involvement with the Usk and identified that there was a significant data gap for non-salmonid (trout and salmon) Usk species available. The project involved collating historic data on all fish species surveyed annually through WUF’s electrofishing programme, incorporating external data and then undertaking robust statistical analyses to find patterns, assess population health and offer insights into the findings, which were discussed with the support and context from academic papers. The findings were captured in a scientific report .
The project resulted in some fascinating findings – In particular the Usk’s population of the SAC protected species the European Bullhead Cottus gobio (pictured) is notably strong; there is a small but consistent population of the critically endangered European eel; and juvenile salmon numbers displayed a dramatic increase in 2024.
