If you have a goldfish which has outgrown its bowl, or Koi too big for your garden pond, please do not release them into the ponds on The Common. Unwanted goldfish and Koi carp ‘dumped in the Apostles Pond last year have almost killed off the native population of Crucian carp who live there. Keith Wesley, who manages the pond on behalf of Dacorum Borough Council, removed a large number of ornamental fish last autumn to stop them competing with the native species. The pond now needs to be restocked with more Crucian carp to help to increase the population. Good news from the Manor Pond – the Crucian carp there have increased and are thriving now the reed beds and fringe waterlilies have been reduced . The Environment Agency have recently launched a project to help protect the Crucian carp and the fish in the Manor Pond could help form a genetic pool of this species for The Common. The Frog Pond has a good population of both newts and frogs and since the area round the pond was cleared last year to allow a larger area of open water, the Ramshorn snail population should increase.