Another River Wandle Catastrophe?

[Angly]

Some may remember the plight of a lovely chalk stream local to me, the River Wandle, which happily is (or rather was) recovering quite nicely with new stocks of Chub, Barbel, Roach, Perch, and Trout to supplement those fish that survived the Thames Water poisoning.

 

Now, apparently some individuals (not the first word I typed I'll be honest) have released thousands of Tench and some large Carp (those well known chalk stream dwelling fish) into the Wandle 'rescued' from Mitcham Common's Seven Island Pond. God only knows how they or the rest of the ecosystem will cope, presuming of course they weren't diseased! Incredibly, this action seems to be celebrated on some forums (which I won't mention for fear of increasing their traffic).

 

Anyone have any idea of the effect this illegal stocking will have?

Edited November 10, 2008 by Angly

[Dick Dastardly]

Jeeze the poor old wandle just aint getting a break! Tench in there wouldnt last long I wouldnt have thought? Mind you I have caught them in fast rivers like the Saone but they are a lot deeper.Daft risking any spreading of disease though.

[Anderoo]

I'd class it as well-intentioned stupidity. I saw in AT last week that the majority of their readers thought that releasing all those tench into the river was the right thing to do. Says it all really

 

Poor old Wandle.