'Nothing else could have been done' to save some small fish at Clypse Reservoir

That assessment concluded that a slow water release from the reservoir would allow fish to leave via interconnecting pipework to the adjacent Kerrowdhoo Impounding Reservoir.

Fish stocking was paused in early July; but anglers continued fishing until the end of August when fishing was prohibited due to safety concerns related to the steep and slippery reservoir banks.

Draining of the reservoir commenced in mid-July, with water being gradually transferred from Clypse to Kerrowdhoo at an average rate of 20mm per day.

Full-scale draining began in mid-August, with rates maintained at approximately 200–300mm per day, aiming for completion by mid-September. 

By 15 September, the reservoir had been drained as far as the pipework allowed.

However, it refilled during periods of wet weather and was subsequently drained again.

Daily inspections indicated no signs of fish distress during this process, and it was assumed that the fish population had migrated to Kerrowdhoo as expected.

However, in a Freedom of Information request response, the authority has now revealed that when the work commenced on 20 October 'a small number of distressed fish were observed'.

DEFA's Inland Fisheries Division was informed and attended the site, with an internal incident recorded.

That document reveals that 'whilst pumping the remaining water from the already nearly drained reservoir, several fish were noticed in the water'. 

At that point, 'water was cloudy with all the disturbed sediments causing death to smaller fish'

The fisheries team rescued the live larger fish and took them off site.

However, the report states that 'smaller fish could not have been rescued' and 'nothing else could have been done to save the last few fish'.