Bay midges' future not so bright

The lights are meant to attract midges

A device to rid Cardiff Bay of hordes of midges plaguing the area has been given a licence to kill.

People living near the waterfront development have complained that their lives have been blighted by the clouds of tiny flies since the £200m barrage was impounded in the autumn of 1999, creating a 200-hectare freshwater lake.

Fershwater midges have become a nuisance

Midges, or chironomids as they are known, do not bite but residents around the city's new shoreline claim the sheer number of the bay flies is making their lives a misery.

The larvae of the flying insects thrive at the bottom of muddy wet flats and May and June is their breeding season, so their numbers are currently reaching a peak.

The enclosure created by the Cardiff Bay barrage is the largest man-made freshwater lake in Europe.

The Welsh Assembly building fronts the waterfront and the area is earmarked for millions of pounds worth of commercial and residential development.

But the barrage has been criticised for upsetting the ecological balance of the area, creating a relatively stagnant reservoir of fresh water in an area which was previously tidal mud flats.

Nets around the lights trap and kill the flies

One thing the experts can agree on, however, is that it has provided almost perfect conditions for freshwater midges.

Cardiff County Council, which has day-to-day responsibility for the bay, has agreed to the trials in the hope it will cut the nuisance they bring people living nearby.

The technology uses runway-like spotlights to attract the midges away from the land.

Special pontoons bearing the powerful lights have been put up in the hope they will dupe the creatures into staying offshore.

The lights are covered in fine netting and the expectation is the midges drawn to the light will be caught in the nets and drown in a trough of water.

The platforms are also moveable so they can be placed in the worst trouble spots.

David Lowe: Midge predators need to be attracted to the area

Although they are still at testing stage, if they are successful, it is hoped the eco-friendly lights could help solve the bay's midge problem permanently.

David Lowe, of Cardiff Bay Harbour Authority, suggested a parallel long-term strategy was needed to bring the ecological balance of the bay against the midges.

He said: "There isn't a simple, overnight, solution to this problem.

"What we need is to develop the new environment we have here.

"Currently the chironomids, that is the non-biting insects, are in a dominant position.

"What we need to do is to encourage predators of these insects into the areas."