Rare fish rescue scheme extended

The gwyniad were caught in Llyn Tegid and their eggs taken

Measures to protect a rare fish from possible extinction by moving its eggs from one north Wales lake to another will continue for the next two years.

Up until six months ago, the gwyniad was only found in Llyn Tegid near Bala.

But a project to safeguard its future by moving eggs to nearby Llyn Arenig began in February.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said the eggs had started to hatch in April, but it would be 2007 before shoals of gwyniad were big enough to be detected.

"This year, we introduced around 45,000 eggs, and next year we hope to introduce more," said team leader Richard Brassington.

This is a good safety net - it makes sense to have a second population Richard Brassington

"As far as we are aware, the young gwyniad have dispersed into the lake.

"We will repeat what we did for two more years as we want to introduce three years of classes initially.

"We intend to do more netting this winter and by 2007, the first batch of gwyniad should be big enough to be detectable by hydro-acoustics."

He said the project would not have had an effect on the original gwyniad population in Llyn Tegid.

"We don't want them to go from Llyn Tegid, and the main focus is the habitat there," he said.

"But this is a good safety net - it makes sense to have a second population."

He added that the scheme had created a lot of interest in the area.

The fish eggs were captured after dusk

"We still get people enquiring how the project is going, and we are particularly pleased that schools have been involved too," he said.

The gwyniad, one of Wales' rarest fish, dates back to the Ice Age and is described as similar to a herring.

Conservationists fear they could be wiped out by pollution, disease or by another fish - the ruffe - was introduced into the lake in the early 1980s.

The project, which took place after dusk, was carried out by the Countryside Council for Wales and the Environment Agency.