Forth & Clyde Canal Re-Stocking - Press Release - 30/11/01

John Ellis of British Waterways introduces a mixed net to the Forth & Clyde Canal.

Amongst the fish being stocked were superb Roach to 1lb

As part of the momentous Millennium Link project, Britishwaterways Scotland recently announced new plans to revitalise the angling potential in the Lowland Canals. This strategy supports three key objectives of their overall plans;

Implementing BWs National Angling Policy
Focused social inclusion projects.
Greater public use and access to the Lowland Canals.

Moving swiftly to implement the first of their plans, BW have now started their restocking programme for the Forth & Clyde canal with some 1200lbs of prime quality Roach and Bream being introduced at Banknock. A key member of BWs Fishery Management staff, John Ellis, was delighted to confirm this was part of a phased plan to restore the quality of coarse angling at several key stretches of the canal. Further work would continue next year including a similar scheme around Maryhill in Glasgow.

Steve Clerkin, secretary for the Scottish Federation for Coarse Angling, said, "BWS have great expectations in the surge of tourism and general use of the canals once the Millennium Link is fully opened. Managing coarse fish populations is an important part of this programme and full credit must go to the Scottish team at BW in recognising how important angling is to canal users generally.

Not only do we now see the potential for our sport to grow in popularity as angling quality increases, but as the National Governing Body, we’ll also have the facilities to implement our youth training and development policy. We’re excited about the future for angling on the canals and look forward to working with BW over the coming years in completing these plans."