In pictures: Hundreds of fish rescued three months after dramatic breach of Whitchurch canal
A specialist team stepped in to rescue hundreds of fish stranded in a flooded field after a major canal breach in Whitchurch.
The Canal & River Trust (CRT) embarked on a mission yesterday (March 18) to safely return hundreds of fish that had been swept into a neighbouring field during a breach of the Llangollen Canal in Whitchurch.
The breach days before Christmas had caused an estimated 100 million gallons of water to escape the canal and pour into a farmer's field.
A temporary lake - six feet deep in places - formed in the field, which had been home to dozens of sheep until a few days before the catastrophe.
An initial rescue mission had been planned for two weeks ago, but the flooded field was still too deep for rescuers to reach the fish, which were thought to include roach, perch, gudgeon, bream and ruffe.
John Ellis, national fisheries and angling manager at the CRT, said he expected "about 1,000 fish totalling around 200lb" to be rescued, and said the fish appeared to be "in good health" after their dramatic relocation three months ago.
Using specialist fisheries equipment, the rescue team temporarily stunned the fish using a low-voltage electric current then carefully lifted them into aerated buckets and transported them back to the canal.
The CRT said it was a "safe and widely-used fisheries management technique" that temporarily immobilises the fish and allows them to be collected without harm.
John added: “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.”
