The Environment Agency will stock Clow Beck in Darlington, the River Pont in Northumberland, River Browney near Lanchester, River Gaunless at West Auckland and the River Derwent near Allensford with the grayling which have been reared at its own Calverton facility.
These rivers have suffered from poor water quality and habitat degradation in the past, but a concerted effort by the Environment Agency is helping to turn the watercourses around.
The Clow Beck flows into the River Tees near Darlington and has recently had two fish passes constructed and 2km of habitat improvement for grayling, created by the Environment Agency and the Tees Rivers Trust.
The stocking on the River Pont will be done around Stamfordham, Matfen and Eachwick to boost fish stocks in areas that have previously suffered from pollution incidents.
Environment Agency Fisheries Officers Paul Frear and Chris Carter will be introducing the grayling to their new homes.
Chris said:
“We are pleased with the way the restoration of these watercourses have gone and it is now time to help fish stocks recover.
It is good news for local anglers as there should be a wider variety of healthy adult fish to catch in coming years.”
Ben Lamb, from the Tees Rivers Trust said:
“The introduction of the grayling into Clow Beck is great and the work by both ourselves and the Environment Agency will give this species a kick start in the watercourse.
Over the next three years we will be monitoring fish populations and invertebrates in the beck and we will be able to track the success of the grayling and their subsequent generations.”
The grayling are one year old. They will continue to grow in the river and some of them will begin to spawn in the spring of 2013. It is hoped that by stocking these young fish over the next few years, the population of grayling in the river will return to healthy numbers.
