Fish rescue under way after north Shropshire canal breach leaves hundreds stranded in farmer’s field
The Canal & River Trust are hoping to help rescue hundreds of fish following December’s canal breach on the Llangollen Canal at Whitchurch.
Today (Wednesday, March 18), the waterways charity is embarking on a mission to safely return any fish that may have been swept into the farmer's field next to the breach of the Llangollen Canal.
The breach caused an estimated 100 million gallons of water to escape the canal and pour into neighbouring fields in the Chemistry area of Whitchurch.
It's not known how many were washed out of the canal, nor whether they all survived their abrupt relocation, but the Canal & River Trust (CRT) think there could be around 1,000 fish currently living in the neighbouring field.
An initial rescue mission was planned for earlier this month, but the flooded field was too deep for rescuers to reach the fish, which are thought to include roach, perch and bream.
The pool of water in the field, which was up to six feet deep in places, has now been drained to around knee height to allow a specialist fish rescue team to begin the operation of catching the fish and safely returning them back into the canal.
Using specialist fisheries equipment, the rescue team will temporarily stun the fish by passing a low-voltage direct electric current through the water.
The CRT said it is a "safe and widely-used fisheries management technique" that temporarily immobilises the fish and allows them to be collected without harm.
They will then be carefully lifted into aerated buckets and transported back to the canal.
John Ellis, national fisheries and angling manager at Canal & River Trust, said: “Fish welfare is a key priority for our charity, and we will take the utmost care when relocating the fish back to the canal. I’m expecting about 1,000 fish totalling around 200lb to be rescued.
"The fish appear to be in good health having temporarily been rehomed in a field of water for two months.
“The breach has had a real impact on people living and working on the canal and nearby, and this rescue is one small but important step in putting things back together.”
