Francesca
Glyn-Jones - 9-Nov-2006 - Fisheries officers from
the Environment Agency will be introducing thousands
of fish to two County Durham streams which have
been brought back to life after years of pollution.
Croxdale Beck near Croxdale
and the River Team were once so polluted with
sewage and minewater that fish and other wildlife
couldn’t live in its waters.
Now, officers based in Newcastle
plan to give them and the River Tyne an extra
boost this month in a scheme which will see the
three watercourses restocked with around 15,000
roach and dace.
Environment Agency surveys show
that certain native species only survive in the
watercourses in small populations so around 10,000
roach will be introduced to the Tyne, 5,000 dace
will be put in the Team and 1,000 dace will be
put in Croxdale Beck.
Fisheries specialist Phil Rippon
said: "We have been working with Northumbrian
Water on improving the quality of the water in
the Croxdale and the Team, and it has now improved
to a standard where fish can survive.
"We hope that restocking
these streams will give them a new lease of life.
At the moment nature cannot take its course because
the fish are prevented from moving around the
catchment. Our work will hopefully mean there
will be enough of the same species to breed within
the streams."
Fish are prevented from swimming
into Croxdale Beck because they cannot ascend
a waterfall at the mouth of the watercourse, and
freshwater fish like roach and dace can’t get
into the Team because it flows straight into the
saltwater Tyne estuary where freshwater fish cannot
survive.
Officers will be restocking
the Tyne on Monday, November 13, and Croxdale
and the Team on Wednesday, November 22. The fish
are a year old and come from the Environment Agency’s
Leyland hatchery near Preston.
