THE prolonged spell of hot weather is being blamed for the death of more than 100 fish at Stover Lake.

Rangers at Stover Country Park, near Newton Abbot, have reported that fish in the lake are struggling in the current heatwave.

Stover Lake is a shallow man-made lake where the water heats up relatively quickly.

As water temperatures increase, dissolved oxygen levels go down, and this has caused some of the fish to die.

Staff are working with the Environment Agency, who are monitoring the situation, and an oxygenator is due to be installed, although this won’t cover the whole lake.

Visitors to Stover are being asked to take extra care not to disturb the fish in the lake during the hot spell.

There have been fish deaths at Stover Lake during periods of drought in the past, but the lake is experiencing a brown algal bloom this year which is further depleting oxygen levels at night and exacerbating the situation.

Algal blooms in lakes are primarily caused by excessive nutrients, particularly nitrogen, combined with warm, still weather. The nutrients are washed into the feeder streams which then end up in the lake.

Last year’s silt dredging has helped create deeper, cooler areas which are being used as refuges by some of the fish. It is hoped the water lilies will spread to their former extent now the silt has been removed which will help shade the water in future.

Councillor Jacqi Hodgson, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Biodiversity, said: ‘It is incredibly sad that there have been some dead fish in the lake, but it’s an unfortunate consequence of the weather and staff are removing them as they find them.

‘While we are preparing to install an oxygenator this won’t cover the whole lake.

‘If anyone has contacts for local large-scale lake oxygenators then we would appreciate hearing from you.’

If anyone can assist with sourcing large-scale lake oxygenators please contact [email protected]