Project Dates: 01.06.2025 to 1.03.26

There are two species of shad fish in the UK, Allis Shad and Twaite Shad. These migratory herring-like fish have seen large decreases in numbers in Britain over the last several decades due to overfishing, pollution and obstructions built into rivers such as dams, sluices, weirs and pumping stations.

This project will investigate the spatio-temporal distribution of shad the River Taw through the use of eDNA analysis and citizen science, to inform conservation efforts and contribute to broader shad awareness and recovery in the region.

Objectives: Generating a map of shad distribution in the River Taw, separated by species and time of year, as well as data on environmental factors influencing their presence.

Methodology: Water samples will be collected by citizen scientists at approximately 40 sites along the River Taw, at set distances from the estuary and at all bifurcations of the river. The project will rely heavily on the involvement of local anglers, conservation groups, and riparian owners, who will be trained to collect water samples. Scientific methods, including commercial barcoding techniques, will map the presence or absence of shad and genetic markers (SNPs) will refine the species identification, determine the origins of the shad, and study population structure and connectivity.

 

Image credits: Westcountry Rivers Trust and Fishing in Wales. 

IMPACT SUMMARY October 2025: 

Project Activities:

• Hosted a volunteer workshop on June 30th to demonstrate the sampling procedure, determine sampling locations, and provide volunteer CSIs with the required equipment.
• Trained the project’s first 5 volunteers who will be able to provide support to new volunteers when we expand to Phase 2 in 2026.
• First sampling window ran from June 30th to July 13th with volunteers collecting 30 samples from across approximately 20 unique sites. The second and final sampling window of phase 1 ran from September 1st to September 14th with volunteers collecting 30 samples from the same sites.

 

Project Outcomes:

• Initial laboratory processing analysis of water sample for eDNA extraction is currently underway.
• Once analysised, the project’s two sample runs (July and September) will determine presence of shad and other migratory fish species within the catchment.
• Of note, angler volunteers have reported a potential second run of shad spawning in late August / early September which warrants further discussion and investigation.