River release for reared grayling

The fish have been tagged just behind the eye so the local angling club can assess the effectiveness of the stocking.

The first grayling to be artificially reared in Wales have been released into a river near Wrexham.

Known as the "lady of the stream," grayling have been prevented from travelling up a stretch of the Afon Ceiriog, near Chirk, by a weir.

Members of Ceiriog Fly Fishers asked Environment Agency Wales (EAW) to stock the stretch.

Eggs and sperm were taken from fish in the River Dee and were fertilised and raised in Corwen, Denbighshire.

The stretch will be stocked up to Afondale weir, which forms another barrier preventing the fish travelling further upstream.

EAW said the release, of more than 100 fish, would extended the season for anglers in 2010, once the population has established.

The fish have been tagged behind the eye to enable effective monitoring.