A stretch of the River Tame at Tamworth that was badly affected by pollution has received an early Christmas present of 10,500 young fish.

The fish, which include roach, dace, chub and barbel, were bred at our Calverton Fish Farm, near Nottingham, specially for re-stocking rivers. At any one time, Calverton holds about 1 million fish, all destined for rivers across England and Wales to reverse the impact of pollution incidents.

The fish destined for the Tame were transported by lorry from Calverton to the release sites. They are part of a total stocking of 50,000 Calverton fish destined for the Rivers Trent and Tame before Christmas.

Alongside Lichfield Road at Tamworth, we have released 4,000 chub.

Next to The Jolly Sailor Car Park, Tamworth, we have released 1,500 dace, 1,500 roach and 500 barbel.

At Kingsbury, we have released 1,000 dace, 1,000 roach & 1,000 barbel in addition to 3,000 chub introduced in late October.

A further stocking is planned for the River Tame at Elford when river levels go down

Also, in early spring, we are hoping to obtain many more much larger fish from other sources to introduce into the Tame and Trent.

Fisheries Officer Derrick Dennis says “These young fish are the beginning of a new era for the River Tame, where fish populations have been badly affected by pollution incidents. This re-stocking aims to reverse the damage done by pollution. These fish and their descendants will help bring the river back to life.

“The money that allows us to restock rivers like the Tame comes  from anglers who buy rod licences but we do try to recoup the cost from polluters in the long term wherever we can.

“Anglers and members of the public are vital to us in responding swiftly to pollution incidents to minimise the damage done to the environment and trace the offenders. We urge them to report any instances of pollution to us straight away by calling our free 24-hour Incident Hotline on 0800 80 70 60.”