A survey carried out by the Environment Agency has found a healthy number of fish in one of the North West’s most important wildlife areas.
Wigan Flashes, a 620 acre site of reedbed, open water, scrub and grassland on the outskirts of Wigan, has been confirmed as home to a large population of fish, some up to 30cm long.
The flashes have a high biodiversity, meaning they can support a wide variety of plant and animal species in their natural environments.
The surveys were completed on Turners, Horrocks and Rainford Flashes as part of the research and development of the flashes by the Wigan Flashes Working Group – a partnership which seeks to protect and improve the area.
Taking place at night, when fish come out of their daytime hiding places, the survey involved suspending high powered portable ‘echosounders’ – designed to show where fish are in the water – from a boat.
Results showed Horrocks Flash contains more than 20 fish per thousand cubic metres, while Turners Flash contains 14 fish, and Rainford seven in the same area.
The survey found the flashes also boast a good variety of sizes of fish, from 6cm up to 30cm long, which would indicate good spawning conditions for the roach, perch, rudd, bream and pike which live there.
Environment Agency Fisheries Officer, Darren Wilson, said: “Until these surveys were completed, we did not fully know what the status of fish stocks in the flashes were. The number of fish we did find though is good for the size of the waters and their location.
“We can now be sure that the flashes have sustainable fish populations, which is excellent news from both an ecological and recreational point of view.”
