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Thames - Algae bloom

398 views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  Alex Jordan 
#1 ·
For those guys that fish the Thames..

Went out yesterday to make sure all was well with my boat and engine. The water is a horrible red brown colour with a viz of about 6 inches. I remember that we had the same issue last year at the beginning of the season and we really struggled to catch anything in the main river until the bloom died down. I'm assuming its a bloom anyway as it doesn't look like a clarity issue and we haven't had any excess rain to cause it.

My theory is that its from agricultural run off and was sparked by the bright sunshine we've had. My hope is that the bloom crashes once the nutrients are used up, so long as there's no more rain to put more fertilizer into the water. I really hope this happens before the 16th.

Anyone else got any theories or intel as to what's caused this? I noticed it for the first time last year, has it always happened or is it a recent phenomenon?
 
#3 ·
same along the north wales coast for the last 10 days !!! and yes its algae bloom that we get every year but some years are worse than others,and yes its been getting worse over the years due to the vast amounts of nitrogen fertilizers put on the land by farmers and then taken into the sea by the rain ,there are many different types of algae,each blooms in a particular colour,ours is orangy brown at the moment but other times we have various greens and occationaly the spectacular "red tide"......... some are very toxic and if detected there is a ban on shellfish being taken for human consumption,most are not dangerous to humans but as the huge bloom gets denser and starts to die off all the oxygen is taken out of the water resulting in alot of dead fish along with crabs/shrimps etc. Just got to sit it out until its all died off.
 
#5 ·
Isn't there any regulation controlling agricultural run off? It just seems farmers can get away with polluting as they wish, sheep dip, phosphates etc etc...

Its so depressing. I've been looking forward to this new season all winter and now it looks like I'm going to be thwarted by a plant.
 
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