Saving the river fish in the UK as lack of rains dries up water bodies

The population of healthy fish in the UK is drying up because of lack of rains. Low level of water in many places have sent out alarms. Therefore, the Environment Agency has stepped in and it is drawing up plans to save them. The population of healthy fish is now corralled by the lowest water levels that many can remember. After waiting till the last minute, the agency has plans to rescue fish in some of the most rapidly vanishing pools and transfer them to other parts of the river. They plan to use a technique called electro-fishing. It involves passing an electric current through the water. This stuns the fish on a temporary basis. It is then collected and transferred to tanks that are full of oxygenated water. River fish being moved in struggle to survive low water levels. This is no doubt a drastic step. There are possibilities that some of the fish might not survive. They are already stressed due to a lack of oxygen and high temperatures in the small pools to which they have been confined for weeks. However, the loss might be far less than the fish that survive.

The River Wye on the Welsh/English border is home to some of our most vulnerable fish populations. These include salmon and sea trout that must migrate the length of the river. The salmon have been dying for weeks because of not just low levels of water and oxygen but also due to rising levels of pollution. Drop of water levels mean rise in concentrations of pollution. Cattle and poultry farms near the bodies of water add to existing pollution from sewage treatment works. The ongoing drought has worsened the situation.

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Didi on a lotus growing mission (satire)

Didi’s hands were full – she had a whole lot of Durga Puja inaugurations to do. It was a trying job but, since they were all big budget pujas with her own people heading the committees, she could not disappoint them. And – they enjoyed the attention and loved every minute of it.
The TV cameras followed the team and Didi chanted the shlokas with perfection.
But – she had also to listen to complaints from all committee members. The complaint was about non availability of lotus flowers. 108 of these flowers are required for every puja and with nearly 3000 pujas being held, the shortage was a major problem.
Moo Cool was walking alongside Didi and he sidled up close to her.
‘What is this lotus they are talking about?’ she asked.

‘It is in short supply,’ Moo Cool replied in almost a whisper.
‘Why? Are there any lotus eaters around?’
‘It is not due to that.’
‘Then?’
‘Waterbodies have dried up and lotus need water to survive.’
‘That is the problem with industrialization,’ Didi murmured. ‘They occupy too much land and choke the waterbodies out. The result is shortage of fish and, now, lotus.’
‘Yes,’ Moo Cool agreed.
Just then Dee Wreck came up to her.
‘I don’t think we should discuss lotus so openly,’ he also spoke in a low voice. ‘It could send out wrong signals.’ ‘But – this lotus is different,’ Moo Cool said.
‘Don’t argue,’ Didi warned them. ‘My people have put up a problem and I must help them out. Tell me – how can we increase the production of the lotus?’
‘We could convert the land in the land bank to water bodies,’ Dee Wreck said. ‘That way we can solve two problems.’
‘Two problems?’Didi asked.
‘Yes,’ Dee Wreck replied. ‘We can produce more number of lotus and, also, breed more fish. That will take care of these two shortages.’
‘But – the land bank is kept reserved for industries.’
Dee Wreck sighed.
‘Right now there are no takers for that land,’ he said. ‘It is lying idle. We can exploit it till industries come along.’ (to be continued …)


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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