The fish were reared at the Marble Arch Hatchery from native stock taken from local rivers and represent the initial phase of a major restocking programme which ultimately aims to put a million trout a year into the lake and its feeder streams.

    For manager Richard Turner and his staff the stocking which finished yesterday has been a major milestone on the road to recovery after the hatchery was almost wiped out by pollution and a subsequent attack when poison was poured into the water supply, killing tens of thousands of young fish.

    “What fish have survived are doing very well,” Richard confirmed. “We have lost a colossal amount of fish but we are busy at other things. Purely for this year the number of fish we had for stocking is down. We are lucky we didn’t lose a lot of our brood stock.”

    They are the adult fish which will be used in the breeding programme. These native Erne trout have adapted well to being reared in captivity.

    “We have been knocked back but it is not as bad as it could have been,” he admits. “At the time we were expecting the worst and that we would be wiped out.”

    He praised his staff for rallying round when pollution and poison threatened the whole project. He also expressed his thanks to the members of the board of the Erne and Melvin Enhancement Company, the community business which operates the hatchery, for their hard work in keeping the hatchery open, despite the setbacks.

    Mr. Turner explained that, vitally, the Fisheries Division of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure had secured the hatchery’s immediate future by agreeing to buy at least 50,000 to 60,000 fish a year for stocking into the Erne.

    The present stocking campaign was largely dictated by what trout survived the pollution and poisoning incidents. Ideally the aim is to mimic nature, releasing fry into streams and rivers, allowing them to follow their natural migration route down into the Erne.

    “Environmentally and ecologically it is better to stock with juvenile fish. They have more time to adapt to their habitat,” explained Mr. Turner.

    With the help of funding from the Salmonid Enhancement Programme local angling clubs have been carrying out improvements to local rivers but there are still not enough suitable streams to enable the hatchery to stock a million trout a year.

    Surveying other waters has been delayed by foot-and-mouth restrictions but Mr. Turner is hopeful that that work can begin soon.

    “We are looking at other rivers to carry out a survey and habitat improvements and seed them with hatchery reared fry,” he said.