This summer, the first 1000 juvenile freshwater pearl mussels will be released into the River Kent as part of the LIFE R4ever Kent project. In preparation for this, all mussels must be tagged and placed into a flume system to prepare them for conditions they will experience in the River Kent.

We are delighted to announce that the Lake District Arctic Charr Recovery and Management project has been awarded Natural England Species Recovery Programme funding to support vital research to help save Arctic charr populations in England from extinction.

Today, we are delighted to share in full the State of Windermere in 2024 report and the Windermere Integrated Science Plan (WISP), authored by Dr. Lynsey R. Harper, funded by the Environment Agency and produced by the Freshwater Biological Association.

At the Species Recovery Centre, the FBA has finished its annual "Exhaustive Surveys", a census which involves counting all mussels in the facility that are more than 5mm in length. Counts take place on every mussel rearing system and from this a representative sample will be taken to determine average lengths of the freshwater pearl mussel population at the FBA Ark.

We are delighted to announce that our first official in-person ECMN event will be on 26 June at Nottingham Trent University. Taking place the day after our Annual Scientific Meeting, this is an opportunity for early career researchers and practitioners to attend both gatherings, to enable networking and establish mentoring partnerships that offer members of the ECMN career support.

Here we catch up with FBA’s Pearl Mussel Assistant, Jodie Warren, to hear about the daily activities at the FBA Ark species recovery sanctuary and the freshwater science making a vital contribution towards protecting vulnerable freshwater pearl mussels (Margaritifera margaritifera).

We are delighted to share the agenda for the FBA Annual Scientific Meeting at Nottingham Trent University on Wednesday 25 June 2025. This conference-style event will be a showcase for an array of speakers from a diversity of backgrounds in freshwater science including early career researchers and senior academics.

Calling all freshwater scientists, researchers and academics. Following the EEA’s ‘Europe's state of water 2024' report, European institutions are now in the process of updating the priority pollutants to be regulated under EU water law and we invite you to sign this statement in support of maintained ambition in the upcoming negotiations between the EU institutions on the final text.

We are excited to announce the restoration of the FBA Annual Scientific Meeting. This conference-style event will showcase the research and practice of FBA members including staff, early career scientists and fellows. It will be in person only at Nottingham Trent University on Wednesday 25 June 2025.

The past 12 months has seen an inspiring evolution in the Riverfly Partnership, with growth in their full-time team and a transition over to an upgraded database with extended capacity to provide more refined recording and analysis.

The Limnological Society in Türkiye and the European Federation for Freshwater Sciences are pleased to announce that the 14th Symposium for European Freshwater Sciences (SEFS14) will be held in Bolu, Türkiye, 21-25 July, 2025.

From October 2024 to Summer 2025, the FBA will be conducting a trial, placing juvenile mussels into temporary holding devices called mussel silos in three river locations across the River Kent catchment.

Windermere is the largest natural lake in England. Plummeting to a depth of around 64 metres, its waters support one of the few Arctic charr populations in England. To drive decision making and conservation actions for Windermere’s Arctic charr there is an urgent need to review the state of knowledge and develop new monitoring and assessment protocols for the lake.

Established in 2007, the Freshwater Pearl Mussel Recovery project is an ongoing partnership project between the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Freshwater Biological Association.

Over the past few weeks, we have been very busy trying to secure funding to allow the Summer Big Windermere Survey (BWS) to go ahead.

FBA’s Assistant Kent Project Officer & Assistant Pearl Mussel Officer Jodie Warren reflects on the LIFE R4Ever Kent team’s recent trip to Northern Ireland.

Simon Johnson, FBA’s Executive Director, reports on FBA’s first Pond Restoration and Science course.

On behalf of the European Federation of Freshwater Sciences we have the great pleasure to announce the proposal call for the 5th Fresh Project.

The Freshwater Biological Association and Lancaster University are delighted to share the results of the February 2024 Big Windermere Survey.

The Freshwater Biological Association welcomes Taylor Butler-Eldridge, PhD Researcher from the University of Exeter (Human Geography) to the team on a part-time funded placement.