As of this afternoon, Tuesday October 2007, Houchins is to anglers until further notice.
Yesterday I received a call from the local EA Fisheries Officer, after a short discussion he offered to visit Houchins and take some Oxygen Readings.
He called me back an hour of so later and stated that the front pit had a reading of 84%. However, the back pit from the causeway had a reading of 34% and from the far bank it registered 26%. He stated that we had to get a pump on there immediately otherwise we would lose the fish stock.
We have secured I believe a week’s rental on a petrol driven pump and installed it them yesterday and the water has been to anglers until such time as there is a massive improvement in the Oxygen levels. The EA Fisheries Officer will be back on site this morning, to take further readings and if these are still low he will bring in some big EA pumps to try and control the decline in the Oxygen Levels.
When I asked the EA Officer what could be causing such a drastic difference between the two pits, he stated that the front pit was open however the back pit was tree lined, which acted as a wind break, and this plus leaf fall, high atmospheric pressure and a sustained high temperature (19 degrees) would start to break down the leaf mould in the water, which would burn up the Oxygen. He also asked which of the two pits was fished the heaviest and I told him the back pit, he then stated that all the additional bait breaks down over time so this would also be contributing to the problem.
So our initial and immediate concern is to get the Oxygen level up to somewhere near the front pit in oder for us to keep the fish stocks alive.
Steve Dormer
CAPS Hon Secretary