Tanks of baby eels or elvers are being maintained by six local schools in their classrooms to boost the importance of caring for the River Kennet, one of the UK’s finest chalk streams which flows through Marlborough.
It is part of a project by Action for the River Kennet (ARK) is supporting in partnership with the Severn and Wye Smokery, which has supplied the baby elvers after they arrived in the River Severn after breeding in the Sargasso sea.
“The numbers of eels in UK rivers have dwindled over the last few decades, having previously been an important part of river wildlife,” Helen Kelly, ARK’s schools liaison member, told Marlborough News Online. “The eels currently being cared for by school pupils will be released into the Kennet in July.”
Pupils at Preshute, Aldbourne St Michaels, Ramsbury, Hungerford, St John’s Academy and Marlborough College are involved in the project and are excitedly watching the eels grow in size.
ARK is also encouraging children to use water wisely to ensure that there is enough water for both us, and the environment. Anyone in the Kennet catchment area can book a free water saving makeover from Thames Water by calling 0800 3586665.
