This month we reported on plans to reintroduce the burbot to Norfolk rivers, decades after the fish became extinct here. Our story prompted one reader to get in touch with a fisherman's tale of his own... did he catch the last one? CHRIS BISHOP reports
The wise old lock keeper stroked his chin as he consulted his wall chart of freshwater fish.
"Th'ass one o' them burbots booy," he finally said.
An 11-year-old angler was about to make history when his float bobbed under at Denver Sluice back in June, 1970.
For instead of a pike or an eel, Steve Mackinder's deadbait had been snaffled by the rarest fish of them all, the burbot.
The species, known in the Fens as eel pout, was a freshwater relative of the cod which was believed to already have become extinct when Mr Mackinder reeled one in from the Relief Channel.
He might even have caught the very last burbot, which expired before it could be returned to the water. The 20 ins specimen is now in a museum.
"It was this large mottled wide-mouthed fish that none of my mates had ever seen," said Mr Mackinder, now a 64-year-old retired agricultural consultant, from Denver.
"It looked like a prehistoric beast and we carried it in a bucket to Walter Lockey, the sluice lock keeper, who checked a wall chart in his office and said: 'Tha'ss one o’ them burbots booy. Th'asss what yew got.
"Walter got on the phone and the river authorities came down from head office, divers were despatched to view the river bed and experts from the Ichthyological Society and the British Museum visited me but no more were ever seen or caught.
"My poor fish sadly died from the ordeal but we understand he or she remains on view in the Natural History Museum, in a glass case, a triumph of the taxidermist’s art."
Burbot died out because of pollution and changes in river management during the 1950s and 60s.
The Norfolk Rivers Trust is hoping to reintroduce them to the River Wissey, a tributary of the Ouse where Mr Mackinder made his catch.
It plans to stock thousands of juvenile burbot from Belgium in the hope of re-establishing a breeding population.
"I wish the project to reintroduce this fish all the luck in the world," said Mr Mackinder. "Even after 53 years I can still remember my first sight of it on that bright summer morning and would really love to be there when these little tiddlers get their chance to thrive in Norfolk waters."
BURBOT BACKGROUND
The fish's name comes from the Latin, barba, meaning beard, and refers to its single chin whisker, or barbel.
They are still found in European and North American waterways.
The fish is edible and considered a delicacy in Finland. It is said to taste similar to American lobster, so has been nicknamed 'the poor man's lobster'.
They were once so common in UK waters that a 16th century book described how they were used to feed hogs.
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