Save the fish mission…

The fish are safe! Saturday 13th August was a red letter day if you were a fish gasping for oxygen in Falmer’s rapidly disappearing pond. For days the pond’s margins have been receding to the point where perhaps as much as 80% of the pond was a crusty, muddy swamp. Residents and concerned visitors had been calling various agencies for help, but the problem is widespread and no help was available anytime soon.

The great news is that communities respond to a crisis. At 8:00 am on Saturday morning, two fishing enthusiasts started the motion, wading knee-deep in silt and ouze to net some of the slower fish. One short video and a quick Facebook post later and within an hour we had 20+ volunteers armed with nets, buckets, waders and even an inflatable kayak.

The team rapidly organised themselves and with scientific precision extracted between 120 and 150 carp of all sizes and transported them to new homes across the county. Our Rangers arrived from Brighton and Hove Borough Council armed with a ton of advice and guidance, consumables and safety guides, great job Rangers!

By 8pm, only a few fish remained and they now had plenty of room and the advantage of two large trenches dug in the silt to give them depth and clear water in which to roam. We lost 2 fish overcome by the conditions during the whole operation. Finally, somewhere in the mud are also; 1 x apple watch lookalike, 2 x pairs of flip flops, 1 x fishing net and a pocket of loose change…

Not a bad day out.

Oh we happy few! These lads kicked it all off…