Workers scramble to rescue 5,000 fish stranded in fields after Union Canal collapse

It has been all hands on deck for workers at the Forth Rivers Trust who have been rushing to rescue fish washed out of the Union Canal after it burst its banks in storms last week.

Dramatic pictures show thousands of litres of water draining away through a gap which opened in the towpath after rain.

The trust said pike, perch, roach, stickleback and eels had been left trapped in pools in the middle of fields and woodland by the receding floodwaters.

Workers wade through flood-damaged forest to capture and return thousands of fish washed out of the canal. (Facebook / Forth Rivers Trust)

In a video posted yesterday evening (Monday, August 17) Dr Iain Reid said showed off “a huge array” of fish which had been rescued and put back into the canal.

In a post on Friday the trust shared pictures of workers with nets stalking the woods and fields around the canal breach looking for escaped fish.

It said: “It was all hands on deck for Trust staff as we were called out to the Union Canal breach near Muiravonside.

Seven of us headed out to rescue a range of fish which had washed out of the canal and now stranded in pools left by the receding flood water,” the trust said on their Facebook page.

This areal picture shows the scale of the damage. (Facebook / Forth Rivers Trust)

“We lost track of how many fish we rescued but we believe it was in the high hundreds, if not a thousand.

"Pike, perch, roach, stickleback and eels were rescued and relocated back into an unaffected part of the canal.

“Staff are working closely with Scottish Canals to make sure fish welfare is managed as best as it can in this difficult situation.

"This will have had a significant impact on the wildlife not only in the canal but also River Avon which the canal water drained into.”