Action To Save The Arctic Charr

[Hoppy]

ACTION TO SAVE THE ARCTIC CHARR

An initiative to safeguard the rare fish in a North Wales lake has had its first major success today.

Dwindling numbers of the arctic charr, also known as the Torgoch, in Llyn Padarn, Llanberis, were causing concern for their future.

Now Environment Agency Wales has caught a number of the fish – which can only be found in a few cold, deep lakes in North Wales - on their way to spawn and taken the fertilised eggs to its Mawddach hatchery to grow on.

The Agency is now looking for a suitable lake to release the resulting fish later next year to establish a reserve population.

This means that if the charr, a survivor from the last ice age, does disappear in Llyn Padarn, the species will not become extinct, and could be re-introduced to the lake when conditions improve.

Agency Officers had been netting for spawning charr in Llyn Padarn every morning for 7 days before catching 8 fish, stripping them of their eggs and fertilising them. The adult fish were then released back into the lake.

David Edwell, North Wales Area Manager for Environment Agency Wales, said:

“Surveys suggest that there has been a drop in number of arctic charr in Llyn Padarn.

“This summer’s algal bloom caused further problems by reducing the amount of oxygen in the water which is important to the charr as it is particularly sensitive to changes in the lake.

“Another algal bloom next summer, which could happen, might place the fish at serious risk.

“Meanwhile, we are continuing to investigate the quality of water in the lake and work to reduce the amount of nutrients getting into it. This is so we can reduce the chances of further algal blooms happening and improve the lake not only for the charr, but also for the local businesses that rely on the tourist trade.”

The initiative is supported by the Countryside Council for Wales.

Dr. Tristan Hatton-Ellis, CCW Freshwater Ecologist said:

"CCW and Environment Agency Wales's long term aim is for Llyn Padarn to be a healthy lake ecosystem, supporting a healthy population of torgoch, floating water-plantain and other water plants.

“Monitoring suggests that the torgoch population in Llyn Padarn is declining rapidly. We are very concerned that this unique fish population may be lost forever, and support Environment Agency Wales's work to establish a refuge population which can be used to restock Llyn Padarn.

"CCW and the EA have already worked together during the gwyniad translocation project on Llyn Tegid. We will be applying the skills and experience gained to the torgoch translocation."

A similar project set up an alternative population of Gwyniad from Llyn Tegid, Bala, in nearby Llyn Arennig Fawr a few years ago.

[woodpecker]

There were charr in a small lake in the hills above Newtown , We caught several
when we fished it in the 1960's Whether they can still be caught there I don't know.

[Garth Roberts]

In 1980, 113,000 Arctic Char fed-fry reared at Cae Ddu by WWA were stocked variously in Wales.

[medicine]

Originally Posted by Hoppy

ACTION TO SAVE THE ARCTIC CHARR

An initiative to safeguard the rare fish in a North Wales lake has had its first major success today.

Dwindling numbers of the arctic charr, also known as the Torgoch, in Llyn Padarn, Llanberis, were causing concern for their future.

Now Environment Agency Wales has caught a number of the fish – which can only be found in a few cold, deep lakes in North Wales - on their way to spawn and taken the fertilised eggs to its Mawddach hatchery to grow on.

The Agency is now looking for a suitable lake to release the resulting fish later next year to establish a reserve population.

This means that if the charr, a survivor from the last ice age, does disappear in Llyn Padarn, the species will not become extinct, and could be re-introduced to the lake when conditions improve.

Agency Officers had been netting for spawning charr in Llyn Padarn every morning for 7 days before catching 8 fish, stripping them of their eggs and fertilising them. The adult fish were then released back into the lake.

David Edwell, North Wales Area Manager for Environment Agency Wales, said:

“Surveys suggest that there has been a drop in number of arctic charr in Llyn Padarn.

“This summer’s algal bloom caused further problems by reducing the amount of oxygen in the water which is important to the charr as it is particularly sensitive to changes in the lake.

“Another algal bloom next summer, which could happen, might place the fish at serious risk.

“Meanwhile, we are continuing to investigate the quality of water in the lake and work to reduce the amount of nutrients getting into it. This is so we can reduce the chances of further algal blooms happening and improve the lake not only for the charr, but also for the local businesses that rely on the tourist trade.”

The initiative is supported by the Countryside Council for Wales.

Dr. Tristan Hatton-Ellis, CCW Freshwater Ecologist said:

"CCW and Environment Agency Wales's long term aim is for Llyn Padarn to be a healthy lake ecosystem, supporting a healthy population of torgoch, floating water-plantain and other water plants.

“Monitoring suggests that the torgoch population in Llyn Padarn is declining rapidly. We are very concerned that this unique fish population may be lost forever, and support Environment Agency Wales's work to establish a refuge population which can be used to restock Llyn Padarn.

"CCW and the EA have already worked together during the gwyniad translocation project on Llyn Tegid. We will be applying the skills and experience gained to the torgoch translocation."

A similar project set up an alternative population of Gwyniad from Llyn Tegid, Bala, in nearby Llyn Arennig Fawr a few years ago.

The question is why is llyn Padarn bright green?

Why are there algal blooms?

Apparently the study will take two years to complete