Goldfish cleared from duck pond

TWO hundred goldfish and a carp that had illegally been introduced into a community pond were removed by a contractor last week and taken to another fresh water site.

The fish were taken out because of the small size of the pond at Elvetham Heath, Fleet and because it is primarily meant to be a duck pond.

Tim Ackroyd, from Hart Council’s Countryside Service explained: “Large numbers of non-native fish can seriously affect the welfare of any pond life, including wildfowl.”

It is thought that the 200 brown goldfish caught were the result of just a few pet goldfish being introduced into the pond some time ago.

Once they started to breed a mixture of gold and brown fish had resulted. Eventually all of the gold fish would have disappeared and been replaced by brown. These would be hardier and less visible to predators like herons and they would have bred prolifically.

A new duck house is to be installed on the pond in the coming months.

Mr Ackroyd said illegal fishing had been taking place at Elvetham Heath-leading to litter and vandalism. Licensed fishing is available at Fleet Pond and other local waters.