Brown trout return to Newcastle-under-Lyme

The Environment Agency has revealed that brown trout, which haven’t been seen in the Lyme Brook for many years, have returned to Newcastle-under-Lyme.

This follows successful work to improve the ecology and habitat of the brook.

The Lyme Brook runs through the heart of the town, and has suffered from poor water quality from as far back as the industrial revolution when new industry and development had an impact on the brook.

Since the 1980s water quality in the Lyme Brook, one of a number of brooks that form the headwaters of the iconic River Trent, has dramatically improved. In recent years, using the Environment Agency’s Environment Improvement Fund, a partnership called the Staffordshire Trent Valley Catchment Partnership has been working to improve the habitat of the brook, mainly through Lyme Valley Parkway.

Stephen Cook from Groundwork West Midlands said:

"It’s great to see that the years of hard work by local people have paid off."

"The fact trout are in the brook means that other species will be thriving too and the quality of the habitat must be improving which is so important. It was also great fun creating the new berms, shifting the gravel and teaching children about their waterways so this news is just the icing on the cake."

From: Environment Agency Part of: Freshwater fisheriesPublished: 16 October 2017

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