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Thousands of fish moved on from Leeds pond
BIG CATCH: Members of Leeds Angling Club and Enviroment Agency experts net silverfish at Polo Pond.
There’s been a shoal lotta movin’ goin’ on at a popular Leeds angling haunt.
Thousands of fish were yesterday plucked from Polo Pond off Brigshaw Lane in Kippax and transported to new homes in other parts of Yorkshire.
The operation was carried out because the pond had become over-populated, stunting the growth of its piscine residents.
It began with members of the Leeds and District Amalgamated Society of Anglers (ASA) catching an estimated 1,500lb of fish such as roach, perch and bream.
They collected that mammoth haul in just five hours by repeatedly trawling the water with a net that measured 100 metres long and four metres deep.
Around half of the fish were immediately returned to Polo Pond while the rest were placed in 1,000-litre water tanks by experts from the Environment Agency (EA).
Some were taken to Woodlesford in Leeds and deposited in the Aire and Calder canal.
Others had a longer journey, to Sandwath Lake at Church Fenton near Selby in North Yorkshire.
EA fisheries officer Peter Mischenko said: “We’re having to move some of the fish as there has been such a great growth in population over the last couple of years leading to the pond running out of space for them to swim and grow freely.
“By taking some of the fish out of the pond the remaining fish will have more growing room and better overall living conditions.
“I’m sure the moved fish will thrive in the Aire and Calder and at Sandwath, making them a great place for anglers.”
Speaking during a break from yesterday’s transfer exercise, the Leeds and District ASA’s Dave Bonsels told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “It’s not been going too badly at all.
“Some of the fish aren’t playing ball, but I suppose that’s only to be expected!”
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 8 C to 21 C
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