Prepare to stock fish into a fishery

This standard is about preparing to stock fish into a fishery. It covers both ensuring that water conditions are appropriate for receiving fish and that the fish to be released are healthy and in a condition suitable for release; it involves using routine and non-routine tasks.

This standard requires that water bodies are assessed for: 

• water temperature
• water quality
• depth
• food availability.

This standard requires that you carry out work safely, in line with relevant legal and health and safety requirements and that you work to maintain bio-security and minimise environmental disturbance at all times.

1. Carry out all activities required to prepare to stock fish into a fishery safely, in line with relevant health and safety requirements
2. select and use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) for the work required
3. obtain and confirm relevant licences/permits to stock fish from the appropriate authority
4. confirm that the water body in the fishery (e.g. the river, lake, pond, loch) is suitable for the planned stocking of fish
5. identify the appropriate release points on the water body in order to meet the environmental needs of the fish being released
6. identify fish species by type and condition
7. confirm that documentation is available to comply with relevant legal requirements
8. maintain the appropriate levels of hygiene and bio-security when stocking fish into a fishery

1. the relevant health and safety requirements associated with preparing to stock fish into a fishery
2. the environmental requirements of commonly stocked fish species
3. the relevant legal requirements associated with the movement and stocking of fish into a fishery
4. why it is important that fish for stocking are disease-free
5. fish stocking consents and how and where to obtain licences/permits to stock fish into a fishery
6. how to recognise fish species by type and condition
7. the environmental needs of fish being stocked in a fishery
8. how to recognise habitat and conditions to support different life stages of fish
9. the reasons why it may be necessary to stock fish and the associated risk
10. the factors that influence the carrying capacity of a fishery
11. the importance of hygiene and bio-security and its role in minimising risks to the fishery

The "carrying capacity" is the number of fish that a water body can successfully hold.

Factors affecting water bodies:

• water temperature
• water quality
• depth
• food availability.

Stocking consents:

Permission to move fish to and from a fishery.

Water body – a significant accumulation of water. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, lochs and lakes but includes smaller pools of water such as ponds and wetland