Hunt for mystery killer decimating Windermere's Ice Age relic fish

THE race is on to halt a dangerous decline of one of the UK’s rarest fish.

- By Chris Riches

Researchers hope to discover why the 10in Arctic charr is dying out in Windermere. The species, normally found in Nordic countries, was trapped in Cumbria when glaciers retreated around 12,000 years ago.

Its presence helped make the Lake District a Unesco World Heritage site in 2017 — but the Freshwater Biological Association says numbers have been falling for two decades.

Warmer water with less oxygen, excess nutrients from agriculture, pollution, plus the arrival of invasive species such as roach are all threats.

Vulnerable

The scientific body plans to study Arctic charr spawning grounds in Windermere to find the exact cause.