Britain's rarest fish disappoints in Bassenthwaite Lake

Measures to protect Britain?s rarest fish in Bassenthwaite Lake may not be fast enough to safeguard a species dating back to the Ice Age.

Surveys of the country?s last two remaining vendace populations in the Lake District, Northern England reveal a raft of recovery actions might not save the striking fish in Bassenthwaite.

But a Scottish loch could signal the breed?s survival and ultimately provide a new generation of stock, once conditions improve in the national park?s fourth longest stretch of water.

Although Derwent Water is still sporting a thriving number of vendace, silting around inshore spawning grounds is largely to blame for the ?poor status of the species? in Bassenthwaite.

Dr Ian Winfield, of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Lancaster, says there is a ?great threat to vendace?s dwindling numbers in Bassenthwaite?.

Using state-of-the-art hydroacoustic systems and netting, the centre has monitored the two lakes annually since the mid 1990s.

?Bassenthwaite?s vendace face a number of environmental problems, including silting, low oxygen levels and competition from other fish,? said Dr Winfield. ?Roach eat their food and ruffe take their eggs. Climate change will also have an impact.?

He paid tribute to Bassenthwaite Lake Restoration Programme (BLRP) initiatives - aimed at improving water quality - and better sewage treatment and said recent radical step to take some of the endangered fish to south west Scotland was paying dividends.

?Now, even if vendace are temporarily lost from Bassenthwaite, they can be reintroduced at a later date, using fish from Loch Skene. Also, field trials are being conducted into a range of artificial spawning methods to keep eggs free from excessive silting.?

Manager of BLRP John Pinder said the surveys had provided invaluable information.

?Protecting wildlife is paramount in our mission to improve water quality and obviously the very fragile state of vendace is of great concern.

?However, knowing the Loch Skene vendace population is doing well and can one day be returned to their Bassenthwaite home is a trump card for us.?

Dr Winfield added management of the ?magnificent species and its environment? was rightly receiving considerable attention from a range of organisations.

?We can be confident that one day vendace will again thrive in a restored Bassenthwaite Lake, he said.?

Interesting stuff as always Ian.

Does anyone know if vendace or powan are actually catchable on fishing tackle? I'd love to catch the few UK freshwater species that are slightly rarer (Arctic Char to go yet too!)........


.......and burbot!!

Sash, I don't think you ought to "target" some of the rarer British fish mate......

Protected species
The following are rare or threatened species in Great Britain and are protected under the provisions of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and later Orders. It is an offence to capture any of these fishes intentionally. Anglers who believe they may have captured a specimen of any of these species are advised to unhook and release the fish unharmed as soon as possible after capture.

Allis Shad - Alosa alosa

Burbot - Lota lota

Schelly, Powan or Gwyniad - Coregonus lavaretus

Sturgeon - Aclpenser Sturio

Vendace - Coregonus albula

No claims for these species will be entertained by the BRFC.

Aha, looks like it will just have to be the char then!! Do the 'whitefish' species take flies / bait then?

Would love to see how someone would go about catching a burbot by design in the UK though ;o)

I know a water, where people target sturgeon, even though there are only a couple in it. I wonder if the owner knows of the above ruling/law??

Ian probably not, but it wouldn't matter anyway, different sp. of sturgeon!

Must be Phil, you can buy them by the bucketful in aquatic shops. If you can afford it.
A lake in Bedworth Warks. has quite a few in it, up to 13 lb weight.

I didn't know that, thanks Phil )

Ian in northern hemisphere of Europe there are 23 different sp.
This doesn't take account of the US ones.
The largest being Beluga (Huso huso) the smallest being the Sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus)

Britain?s rarest fish facing home move

BRITAIN?S rarest species of fish may have to be removed from Bassenthwaite Lake before it dies out.

The vendace populations in the Lake District date back to the Ice Age ? but they are now under threat from climate change and competition from other fish.

Dr Ian Winfield, of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in Lancaster, said: ?There is a great threat to the vendace's dwindling numbers in Bassenthwaite.?

Using state-of-the-art systems and netting, the centre has monitored the two lakes annually since the mid-1990s.

Some of the fish have already been moved to Loch Skene, Scotland, while work to improve their Lake District home continues.

Dr Winfield paid tribute to Bassenthwaite Lake Restoration Programme (BLRP) initiatives, aimed at improving water quality and said the recent radical step to take some of the endangered fish to south west Scotland was paying dividends.

He added: ?Even if vendace are temporarily lost from Bassenthwaite, they can be reintroduced at a later date, using fish from Loch Skene.?

John Pinder, manager of the BLRP, said: ?Protecting wildlife is paramount in our mission to improve water quality and obviously the very fragile state of the vendace is of great concern.

?However, knowing the Loch Skene vendace population is doing well and can one day be returned to their Bassenthwaite home is a bonus for us.?

Powan etc. can be caught. I had one on maggot at Balmaha on Lomond.

It weghed about 2lb and fought like grayling. Kind of wriggling.

i wonder how long it will be before evan decides to go and find one to eat.