News

Hydroscape, a free biodiversity and water quality reporting platform for anglers and fishery managers, has passed 11,000 verified cormorant reports covering over 60,000 birds, with records now coming from across the UK and mainland Europe.

The Hydroscape App lets anyone at the water record what they see in 30 seconds with GPS, time stamp and optional photograph features, all without a log in being required.

Reports are checked against a database of more than 1,000 UK freshwater species, with AI verification on uploaded photographs.

The Hydroscape team is in regular conversation with the Environment Agency, Natural England and Natural Resources Wales on cormorant predation, licencing evidence,and freshwater biodiversity management in the UK.

“Anglers see more of what happens on the water than anyone else. Eleven thousand reports in, that’s a data source regulators can work with,” the Hydroscape team said.

The Hydroscape App is available on Google Play, with an iOS version in preparation, with the interface available in 23 languages.

Hydroscape has been built by fishery managers with decades of hands-on experience in water management, biodiversity, habitat improvement and freshwater ecology. Although built in the UK, it is available globally.

The full ecosystem, including the HydroLibrary species database, the Biodiversity Monitor, water quality reporting and long-form case studies through HydroReader, is at hydroscape-group.co.uk.