THOUSANDS of fish have been reintroduced to a lake near Selby.
The Environment Agency yesterday transported thousands of roach and gudgeon from Charlton Brook Dam, near Sheffield, to the lake just outside West Haddlesey.
Pete Turner, the Agency’s fisheries officer, said the South Yorkshire lake had been gradually silting up so the fish had to be moved to allow the expanse of water to be cleaned.
He said: “What we are doing is working with a couple of organisations who have expressed an interest to turn the West Haddlesey lake into a fishery for people with disabilities.”
The lake needed restocking because many of the fish were killed during the floods of 2007.
Mr Turner said: “We think the fish died because floods washed dirty water, carrying a lot of sediment, into the lake. This led to the fish being starved of oxygen.” The lake originally contained a number of species including carp, tench, roach, bream and gudgeon. It had previously been used for fishing and the hope is to turn it back into a coarse fishery, although this is likely to be a number of years away yet.
Mr Turner said: “It takes a couple of years for the fish to establish and breed.”
The area surrounding the lake would also need to be landscaped to accommodate those with disabilities.
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