Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Cottswold Boosts Brown Trout Stock

The Environmental Agency has recently planted thousands of brown trout eggs into the rivers around Cheltenham and Cirencester. This planting is part of an ongoing effort to mitigate declining brown trout populations in these rivers.

Over 110,000 trout eggs will have been introduced into the River Churn, the River Dikler, the River Coln and Apney Brook since the start of the year.

Incubation boxes were used to protect the eggs and newly hatched young fish from predators and let them adapt to the river's environment. After hatch, trout spend an average of 40 days in the boxes after before swimming out into the river.

The native brown trout has suffered from pollution, loss of habitat and competition from rainbow trout over the last hundred years, but the Environment Agency is attempting to increase numbers to preserve the diversity in the UK's rivers.

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