Hadlow College Fisheries students got some real ‘hands-on’ experience on a recent visit to a local fishery.
The Year 1, Extended Diploma students got up close to some rather large fish when they conducted a netting at Mousehole Fishery in Paddock Wood just before Christmas.
The students’ main task for the day was to net out small silver fish species, such as roach and rudd, and then move them across to the adjacent match lake.
Moving these smaller fish will reduce the overall biomass in the lake, allowing more room for the larger carp to grow and thrive.
But as you can see, although the students were after smaller fish, it is sometimes impossible not to also catch the larger inhabitants.
Brian Bailey, Commercial Fisheries Manager for Hadlow College, said: “Our students learn all aspects of fisheries management here at Hadlow College. We believe that working with industry and getting our students regular ‘hands-on’ experience, like this, is key to them succeeding in industry. Come and study at Hadlow to be industry ready!”
Hadlow College is Kent’s only rural and land-based college and offers a Level 3 Fisheries course that is designed to give students the practical and theoretical knowledge required for employment in the aquaculture, fisheries management, or wildlife sector.
The College has a range of specialist fisheries facilities. These include:
- A fully stocked hatchery containing various species of tropical and cold water fish.
- More than 50 aquarium tanks and several advanced Recirculating Aquaculture Systems which incorporate industry standard equipment such as commercial drum filters.
- Grove Farm Fishing Lake, a two-hectare mixed coarse fishing lake and growing on ponds, which operates as a commercial fishery and fish farm.
The College also offers a Fisheries Management (Aquaculture) Top Up Level 6 course.
If you are interested in finding out more visit the Fisheries Management section of the Hadlow College website.
