A Bridge too far: by Neil Forshaw

My friend Gilly Greenall was walking between the line of the canal and the Sankey Brook about 5.30 on the 21st of February when spotted a large fish on a sandbank on the opposite bank, just south of the viaduct at Earlestown. He had quite a walk to get to the other bank and on his way picked up a stray plastic bag to put his find in. When he reached the sandbank he saw it was a salmon some 30 inches in length. He said when he picked it up it twitched a couple of times and then appears to have died.

When he got home he phoned the Environment Agency. They sent someone round early next morning to collect it. He told Gilly that the tail fin looked as if it had been attacked by a seal and that there were still some sea fleas on it.

I later spoke to Gill on the phone and he told me that the EA phoned him on Friday and had posted a report to him. Here's an extract from it:

Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar). Male, 73cm (2'9"), 2.9kg (6.5 lbs, but described as lean). Probably hadn't spawned. Age: The fish had spent a year in freshwater as a juvenile before heading out to sea to feed for one year. The fish then entered the Mersey catchment to spawn. Scale analysis showed that the scales had suffered from severe erosion, probably from having spent a long time in freshwater, possible while looking for suitable spawning areas.

Editor: We assume that the fish's presence so far upstream is a positive indication of the condition of the Sankey, formerly known as "The Stinking Brook". If it's good enough for salmon, is it good enough to use as a water supply for the canal?

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