The first stage of the fish rescue will get underway on Friday 5 March. Contractors will be onsite catching a sample of fish so that the general health of the population can be assesed.
The results of the check will help to determine where the fish will be released. The sample catch could take up to two days to complete. The fish rescue will get underway shortly after, and should be completed in the coming few weeks.
We know many people will want to watch this operation and look at the fish as they are caught so we are are looking into how we can best do this.
We’ll keep posting updates to the blog, and also let you know if there are any opportunities to volunteer as part of the fish rescue operation.
DATE OF NETTING REQUIRED URGENTLY FOR PEOPLE TO HELP OUT!!Many people are now very anxious to rescue the fish and get them into a safer environment – the smaller pools now appearing difficult if not impossible to access.
Could you please tell us in good time when help is needed and we will rally round both local and others from further afield.
Please note it would be very easy to create a mound between the island on the speedboat dam side and the target that would seperate a large part of the pool as a holding area. The gap now is probably only 15 metres and no soil would need to be imported – the sand/top soil/rubble could be used from the island – a days work for a machine – it might help??
The angling press are trying to follow the story and we can publish the date(s) in this when the proper netting is to take place – a weeks notice would be required so sooner rather than later with date please
For those of use who don’t have nets or are particularly inexperienced at handling fish, who should we be reporting any trapped fish to? Can we be assured that reports will be followed up and the fish taken proper care of?
Where will the fish be relocated to as we would be happy to take the fish here in our four ponds?
Jen
Thanks, I’ll pass your comments onto the team.
hi i have herd from word of mouth that the fish have been removed today from chase water i have been watching on here closley and havnt seen any suggestions as to it being correct could you please let me no is this is true and if not the correct dates if known for the fish rescue many thanks
Hi Amy
We are still doing the fish health check and hope to post a blog very shortly to tell you all about the details fo the catch and where the fish will be going. Cheers
as you can see the bottom of the dam wall why do you have to drain the reservoir dry also i`ve heard that the dam wall is just going to be coated with something to make it non-porous so why have all of the trees on the dam wall been cut down including yesterday a tree with an owl nest box attached to it
We need to effectively drain the reservoir (although we believe there will still be water left in it – up to about 3m deep at times) to ensure the safety of the works.
If we carried out the works, without first draining the reservoir, we would be putting both the workmen and the communities downstream at an unacceptable risk.
We also need to access a pipe that is located right at the bottom of the lake, as part of the works, and we can only get to it by lowering the water as low as we can.
The trees had to be removed to allow the works to take place. And because we can’t disturb nesting birds, we had to do it well in advance of the works. We may be replacing some trees, but not on the face of the dam, as our engineers have said it interferes with our ability to monitor the dam.
If we carried out the works, without first draining the reservoir, we would be putting both the workmen and the communities downstream at an unacceptable risk.
We need to effectively drain the reservoir (although we believe there will still be water left in it – up to about 3m deep at times) to ensure the safety of the works.
We also need to access a pipe that is located right at the bottom of the lake, as part of the works, and we can only get to it by lowering the water as low as we can.
thanks for the reply even if you writ it twice lol
An oasis where I enjoyed the quality of it’s pike fishing as a boy I am devasted to read about an apparent lack of effective planning regarding fish welfare.
Just because fish are not furry or feathery and are indeed rarely seen by the most people they are rarely viewed as the magnificent examples of mother natures evolution that they truly are.
Chasewater is a rare example of it’s kind with it’s size, history, mystery of content and rich biodiversity.
Surely the fish population should be seen as the valuable part of the regions wildlife that it truly is.
The fish should be rescued and as much as possible relocated in the canal, swag and any nearby local waterways.
At the very least some of the larger (established and breeding) fish should be relocated to the swag, I have heard this will be partly drained but a stocking of a few individuals of each species should not create a problem.
Why has a plan not been formulated already, fish have already died in thier thousands? There would be uproar if thousands of birds or rabbits were killed due to human negligence., wouldn’t there?
There is a very detailed plan surrounding the fish rescue at Chasewater. We have been working with Natural England, British Waterways, the Environment Agency and independent ecological consultants to help plan and carry out the works. The team are on site today, rescuing fish from smaller or stranded pools, and the main rescue should be carried out early next week (w/c 22 March). We have always stated that we aim to complete the fish rescue by the end of March, and it is likely that we will achieve this. We are doing all we can to protect all the fish in Chasewater, and ensure they are rehomed to local waterways.
In response to rehoming fish in Jeffrey’s Swag, this is not practical. As part of the works we are also lowering the water level in the sway, and rehoming fish in here would put an undue strain on the existing ecology and fish population.
Hi, how were the pools cleared today as there are no visible footprints or any other marks in the silt to see that anyone or any vehicles have been near them ?? There were some people spotted with nets just down by the speedboat club but the water they were netting is not cut off from the main body? Is it going to be an ongoing operation for the rest of the week because there are surely fish still in the pools locked off?? Now as the fish have been given a clean bill of health are there any plans to put the fish in the local canals or rivers that have recently been devastated by pollution?? And finally why could a controlled removal and restock of the fish not have taken place?? http://www.fisheriesmanagement.co.uk/drain_down.htm
The above link is a case study of a drain down of a reservoir that had many similar characteristics to Chasewater and when the fish were reintroduced they (along with the flora and fauna) were found to have thrived. There are sections of the canal behind Chasewater where the fish could be held and reintroduced at a later date ! It also shows that it does not take years and years, as stated by the organisations involved at Chasewater for the watercoarse to be able to resustain life!!. The way I see the situation unfolding is that as Lichfield Council dont as yet have the money to do the dam repairs then they have just farmed the task out to British Waterways ,to do as they feel neccesary with the stock. In some ways I can understand why Lichfield Council would not want to take any financial responsibilty for the fish as ,I believe, that British Waterways are not prepared to put any money towards the dam repairs and theoretically they own the water itself. Either way if the fish are taken from the area, or any more are allowed to perish, then it will be a sad sad loss. I just wish that things had evolved since the Brent Reservoir drain down (above link) in 2001 and not gone backwards so much as they seem to have done at Chasewater 9 years later. Thanks JJ
Hi JJ. Unfortunately LDC doesn’t own any appropriate temporary homes, so British Waterways plans to re-home the fish in regional canals and waterbodies. We can’t use the Anglesey Basin because of the anxieties about the water quantity over the next couple of years. With Chasewater offline the water level here will drop considerably and it already holds its own fish stock.
Interestingly the fish removal is being undertaken by MEM Fisheries – the same company involved in the best practice case study (Brent Reservoir) that you highlighted in your post, and John Ellis of British Waterways, who is also mentioned in the project case study, has also been advising on the Chasewater project.
We have been advised that it will take years for Chasewater to recover, because it will take time for the reservoir to refill and for the water quality to settle down. Unfortunately, we don’t have the finances to restock the reservoir as many people would like.
Hi Lizzie, thanks for the reply
As I understand it British Waterways will be taking the stock as payment to cover the costs for them netting the reservoir ??? If this is the case ,as I believe it is, then a gentleman (Mr Nicholls) I spoke to at British Waterways said the cost of netting Chasewater would be around the £10,000 mark. If this is the case then the fish that will be taken away will financially far far exceed the cost of the netting so surely the minimum requirement that British Waterways should be doing is some form of restock when the pool is refilled and settled?? I posted before that the 100,000 juvenile fish that died in the canal basin would have been worth £60,000 to replace and they have not even touched the estimated 30-40 thousand adult fish and the 300-400 specimen fish that the hydrosurvey team found in there. With the cost of a single carp that weighs 30 – 40lb worth around £5000 alone, you can imagine that on a financial level there is the potential for a hell of a lot of moneys worth of fish. Mark LLoyd of the angling Trust believes that there is possibly up to 40 tons of fish that reside in the lake, Surely British Waterways should put something back as I’m sure that this excerise for them is like losing a penny and finding £1000. Can you please put this question to them and post back what their response is please? Also I have some friends who have been up there today and they said that the smaller pools have definately not been netted, as I stated, so this still leaves us worried about the welfare of the fish in them ?? Thanks JJ
As agencies we are working together to attempt to mitigate the impact of the dam works – not just to the reservoir’s fish population, but also to other wildlife, local communities, as well as the local economy. Don’t forget that over 60 miles of canal network are fed by Chasewater, and British Waterways is going to have to cope with the loss of this primary waterfeed, and to attempt to compensate for it in other ways over the coming years.
That said, as part of the partnership operation British Waterways has agreed to help out and carry out the netting on our behalf. From our professional surveys we have estimated there are between 1.5 – 2.5 tonnes of fish – and no where near 40 tonnes of fish as your post suggests.
We haven’t finished the netting of the pools – we’ve prioritised those most urgent – those that are shallow and are not fed by streams. We continue again on Tuesday but some we will leave until the main rescue.