How did the River Trent get its name?

In truth, the theory is likely apocryphal, but McKenzie said the more mythical tale was the inspiration for the Trent30 campaign, which the charity hoped would build up a better picture of the health of the river and its tributaries.

“We can’t be everywhere all at once, and we are very aware that anglers are a wonderful pair of eyes and ears on the riverbanks for us,” he said.

“What we want to do is try and tap into that passion.

“These are incredible citizen scientists, they’re gathering data without even knowing about it, so we want to be able to utilise that data as much as possible to focus our conservation efforts.”

Trent30 will be a “catch and release” project, meaning fish will not be harmed, the charity added.

Marcus Bowles, a Trent Rivers Trust fisheries apprentice and keen angler, said finding 30 different species in a year was a tough challenge and would require different fishing techniques.

“The Trent is one of those top rivers that anglers love to fish,” he said.

“It has so much variety. Within Staffordshire it’s a lot smaller when you compare it to when you get towards Derby, Nottingham, when it’s a lot wider.

“Sometimes you just don’t know what you’re going to catch.”