A MAJOR environmental mission to save an "Ice Age" fish from extinction is set to continue.
Conservationists joined forces in a bid to safeguard the gwyniad which is unique to North Wales.
Six months ago the herring-size fish
A MAJOR environmental mission to save an "Ice Age" fish from extinction is set to continue.
Conservationists joined forces in a bid to safeguard the gwyniad which is unique to North Wales.
Six months ago the herring-size fish was only found in Llyn Tegid, near Bala.
But experts hope it can settle and thrive just a few miles away in Llyn Arenig.
Earlier this year gwyniad eggs were moved from the Bala lake.
A night-time operation saw Countryside Council of Wales and Environment Agency scientists helped by Snowdonia National Park wardens transfer some 45,000 eggs to Llyn Arenig.
An Environment Agency spokesman said the eggs started to hatch in April.
But it will be another two years before the shoals of gwyniad are big enough to be detected by sensitive sonar equipment.
The spokesman said: "As far as we are aware the young gwyniad have dispersed into the lake. "We will repeat what we did for two more years as we want to introduce three years of classes initially."
He said the project would not affect the original gwyniad population in Llyn Tegid.
Conservationists feared the gwyniad could be killed off by pollution or disease.
They were also concerned it could fall prey to another fish, the ruffe, which also lives in Llyn Tegid and is partial to gwyniad eggs.
Snowdonia National Park warden Arwel Morris said: "The idea is to try and set up a back-up colony of gwyn-iad which could replace or replenish stocks at Bala if, for instance, we have a pollution incident.
"A recent survey showed the lake has a healthy population possibly running into several thousand.
"But the pressure is on because there are so few hens (female fish) around at the moment."
The gwyniad, part of the coregonus lavaretus family, has distant relatives in Scotland, England, eastern and northern Europe and Canada. But 18,000 years of evolution have made it a unique species.
While the maximum weight for gwyniad is about 1lb, some related fish in Canada can reach 50lbs. Some migrate between freshwater and the sea.
Because the gwyniad is genetically unique, it is impossible to strengthen the population in Llyn Tegid by introducing fish from outside to breed.