Coincidence. Michael Viney writes fascinatingly about the charr, which he tells us is alive and still thrives here, especially in Lough Eske in Donegal; and a cutting from a Swiss newspaper comes through in the post, which tells us how the same fish, salvetirius alpirius, fares in Lac Leman, bordered by Switzerland and France.
There it is well-known and much prized in restaurants, but the name resounds as charr does not - it is known as l'omble chevalier. In fact, the big heading to the article reads: "The love nest awaits the omble chevaliers". That's the headline writer's colourful description of a spawning bed for the fish.
For natural reproduction needs to be helped to keep this star of restaurants going in sufficient numbers. So the "love nest" has been laid down at the mouth of the Asse river at the town of Nyon, not so far from Geneva. A constant run of fresh water is guaranteed. Just last week, barges unloaded about 200 cubic metres of gravel into a depth of 20 metres. The stones, which came from the mouth of the larger Versoix river, are round and, says the Tribune de Geneve, range between the size of a walnut and a fist. There are five other known spawning-beds.
The omble chevalier is a necessary part of the enjoyment of visitors to the area. The name alone should beckon you on. It is a delicate fish, pale pink under the skin, and you haven't visited the lake if you haven't had your omble chevalier. Perch, of course, in the form of filets de perche, often tiny now because of the appetites of local citizens and visitors, are favourites too.
The Tribune notes that if it had not been for intervention, the ombles chevaliers would probably have disappeared from the lake. Every year millions of fry are released. Just how many of the ombles on the menus are wild and how many the product of fish-farms (isn't that the trend everywhere, as with salmon in this country?) is not clear.
The correspondent who sent the cutting says farmed fish are clearly marked as such in the fish market. In restaurants, it is likely that the diners don't quibble or ask questions. Lovely fish, even if farmed. And what a name in French.