Lake transfer for endangered fish

Derwentwater is home to the endangered vendace

Thousands of rare fish eggs have been transported to a new home in the Lake District during an 11-night operation.

Vendace, a small white fish which date back to the Ice Age, are found in only two locations in the UK, and there are fears pollution could wipe them out.

Fishery experts worked in freezing temperatures in Derwentwater to gather around 134,000 eggs during the fish's annual nocturnal spawning.

The eggs were taken in special flasks to nearby Sprinkling Tarn.

The RAF were on standby to airlift hundreds of adult fish at the beginning of December but milder weather delayed their spawning and kept them in deeper waters where they could not be caught.

'New stocks'

Vendace are only found in Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite, but poor water quality, the silting-up of spawning grounds and competition from other species pose serious risks to their survival.

New stocks are needed to safeguard the future of the species, and Sprinkling Tarn in Borrowdale was chosen because it is the closest site to Derwentwater.

Last year adult fish and eggs were successfully transferred from Bassenthwaite to a reservoir in South West Scotland.

John Pinder, manager of the Bassenthwaite Lake Restoration Programme said he hoped the Sprinkling Tarn move would be successful and that new stocks of vendace could be established.

"We have all got to work towards safeguarding the survival of this very important and historic breed of fish."