Earlier on today I counted 20 dead fish in about 400m of canal. Presumably with the heat and the rubbish and weeds that are in the canal there isn’t enough oxygen. Is that like it all over? How are your fishing ponds @Barry Haynes ? I remember when they all died, including everyone’s fave old timer and it was down to no oxygen.
Seen the same here whilst riding my bike along the cut. Apparently it’s low oxygen levels. That’s a new one on me, I haven’t seen this many dead fish during an heatwave before! Something isn’t right with the canals methinks I first noticed the odd dead fish on Monday, today there were quite a few
I think probably the amount of poo already in the waterways has affected the oxygen levels and the heatwave has tipped the scale
The trout farm I pass daily always has oxygenators running on the ponds . It looks like just a big ole motor with chains on a shaft half in the water
I’d have thought the lock system and the constant stream of boats would keep the canals aerated, it’s pretty busy along our stretch so plenty of filling and refilling. I dunno it just seems odd! I saw the blokes taking samples from the cut this morning!
June 16th today (first day of new course fishing season ) Do you think the fishes knew and decided to ruin the anglers day ?
I think the canal and narrow boats are the most aesthetically pleasing thing in this country bar none. The architecture, the engineering everything about the cut is pretty good. I love my bike rides alongside it. I just wish they’d tidy the towpath in places more!
Probably pollution, the water authorities are dumping so much Tom tit in our rivers it’s heartbreaking
You can't have both apparently. They spend stupid amounts of money on the towpaths, they are trying to make a linear park for you to ride your bike or walk. The actual infrastructure gets as little as possible to just about keep it working. For example they will not fix a lock paddle until the other three are broken and the lock unusable. That's policy. They would rather have newts than boats. Get this - they do not grease the lock workings. Some nawty boaters might, but CRT do not. Why? They can't find a grease that is nice enough for the environment. It goes on and on. They fail to maintain when one bloke with a spade could have done it in an hour and wait until the damn literally breaks costing zillions. Wonkers spend £5M on company cars. Everything out to contract ensures nothing gets fixed in a timely fashion and the same bit of towpath gets the grass cut over and over while some parts area forest.
Good job the victorians built it well is all I can think. I know they’re frugal the guys dipping the water told me they won’t spend unless they have to. Sad really as it’s such a fantastic piece of our heritage.
The government decided it was a drain on resources and ditched it. To make it happen they agreed to fund it for 10-20 years on a gradually reducing grant that CRT assured them they'd make up with charitable donations ha-ha-ha. The charity money raising dept LOOSES money that could have been used for maintenance. It went through in the normal way of pushing the actual disaster into the future well away from government hands so of course it got voted through. What you could and perhaps should if you care, because it IS your tax that's paying for it, is write your MP that CRT is not fit for purpose etc etc and please could the government take it back under their control. TBH they weren't much better, but they were not the wallies on a easy number that we have now. They've sacked all the knowledgeable staff that haven't left in disgust. When you phone about anything they have no clue where it is etc. They rely on computers instead of experience. That Richard bloke in charge is the one that sacked everyone on SE rail and caused a hoo-ha. He just moved on to ruin something else and a bunch of other peoples lives. To people like him everyone is just a number.
Despite the locks, canals don't have the same flow rates as rivers. In hot weather, concentrates of algae etc can soon soak up all the oxygen. Canals were originally constructed as industrial transport networks, not nature reserves. Fish weren't meant to be there and no provisions were made for their survival. If they were intended to sustain fish, the builders would have installed huge steam powered pumping engines every few miles to filter and oxygenate the water!
There are millions of fishermen in this country, we pay £30-£45 for our rod licenses that a hell of a lot of money, where’s it going because I don’t see it being used for what it’s intended
