Vendace

Habitat Distribution

• Native to Britain since the last ice age; natural population now confined to Derwentwater, Cumbria. A Bassenthwaite Lake population was declared extinct after 2000.
• Conservation populations established in Loch Skeen and Daer Reservoir (Scottish Borders) in the mid-1990s, and in Loch Earn (Perthshire) — all selected for depth, water chemistry, and suitable spawning substrate.
• A refuge population was also introduced to Sprinkling Tarn, roughly 10 miles from Derwentwater, in 2011.
• Requires deep, cold, well-oxygenated upland lakes. Highly sensitive to eutrophication, siltation, and low oxygen — conditions that have driven its decline at former sites.

Key Locations

• Derwentwater, Cumbria — the only remaining natural UK population; water quality here is critical to the species' survival.
• Loch Skeen, Scottish Borders — established conservation population translocated from Bassenthwaite Lake in the mid-1990s.
• Daer Reservoir, Scottish Borders — established conservation population translocated from Derwentwater in the mid-1990s.
• Loch Earn, Perthshire — a smaller, lower-density conservation population established in the 1990s.
• Sprinkling Tarn, Cumbria — refuge population introduced in 2011 as an additional safeguard for the species.

Specific Spots

• Spends daylight hours in deep water — the deepest basins of their lakes, often 10–20 metres down — where temperatures stay cold and oxygen levels are stable.
• Moves toward the surface and shallower margins at dusk to feed on zooplankton, then retreats to depth again by dawn.
• Spawns in late autumn and early winter over shallow gravel areas; eggs are left uncovered and are vulnerable to siltation and egg-eating species like roach and ruffe.