TWO adult vendace, Britain’s rarest freshwater fish and a relic of the last Ice Age, have been found in Bassenthwaite Lake, more than a decade after being declared ‘locally extinct’.
No trace of the fish had been discovered since 2001, but last year a single young vendace was recorded during the annual fish survey, followed by two further specimens this year.
The fish community of Bassenthwaite Lake has been monitored by the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology since 1995 in a collaborative project previously with the Environment Agency and now with United Utilities.
Dr Ian Winfield, who leads the annual surveys, said: “The news for Bassenthwaite Lake is about as big as it gets for rare fish.
“I am certain that other adults remain in the lake. I also think that such fish will spawn this winter, but I’m unsure of how egg incubation will go given persistent sediment problems at the lake.”
One theory about the findings is that vendace have actually survived in Bassenthwaite Lake below the limit of detection for the last decade and may now be increasing in abundance.
A second is that fish may recently have arrived in Bassenthwaite Lake by moving down the River Derwent from Derwent Water.
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