14 April 2024
The Wild Carp Trust has secured its fifth and largest conservation pool. Named ‘Fortmere’, the 1.5-acre pool sits near to an Iron Age fort, within a conservation zone on an organic farm.
Wild Carp Trust chair of trustees Dr Nigel Hudson said, “Securing this pool when we’re about to rehome hundreds of Llyngwyn carp is a timely achievement for our charity. It’s large enough to take 200 carp and, critically, does not contain any other fish. It’s also a self-contained water, meaning there’s no stream in and out or likelihood of it flooding, so our EA site permit allows us to move carp there without needing to kill fish for health checks. So every carp moved is a fish saved, and we have a large pool that can be used to house carp both temporarily and permanently.”
The Wild Carp Trust has secured four conservation pools since its charitable formation in 2020. The waters are Cowslip Pool, Edward’s Pool, John’s Pool, Garden Pool, and Fortmere. We also have a fry rearing facility and holding tanks for growing small carp until they’re large enough to avoid predation by herons and kingfishers.
If you have a pond or lake that could house wild carp, or land that could be used to dig stock ponds, then please contact us. The main considerations are that the waters must not – and must never – contain any other type of carp, koi or goldfish. (Conservation of the unique strain is our primary goal.) Ideally, they will be self-contained waters away from public access. The Wild Carp Trust retains ownership of the carp, absolving landowners of responsibility for the carp’s survival, and will harvest offspring annually to avoid overpopulation and for stocking into other pools.
