Fisheries and rod licensing - Bringing salmon back to South Yorkshire
23 May 2014 04:13 PM
New fish pass will allow
fish to migrate further towards Sheffield
Salmon and sea trout could soon
be returning further into South Yorkshire thanks to a major engineering project
on the River Don.
The Environment Agency has built
a £500,000 fish and eel pass at Sprotbrough Weir, near Doncaster,
allowing fish to migrate upstream as far as Rotherham, and also into the River
Dearne.
Salmon were once so common on
the River Don that they provided an affordable meal and formed a staple part of
the local diet.
But in the 18th Century a number
of weirs were built along the river for industry or to regulate water levels
for boats. These prevented salmon, lamprey and eels from migrating, and any
coarse fish like barbel that are washed over a weir during high waters cannot
return back upstream.
Pollution from industry during
the 19th and 20th Centuries then made the river uninhabitable for most
wildlife.
The Sprotbrough fish pass is
part of a wider programme of work which will improve the river for coarse fish
and eel and also return salmon to the centre of Sheffield. There are 14 further
weirs between Sprotbrough and Sheffield, and five of these are already passable
to fish.
Plans are underway with the Don
Catchment Rivers Trust to adapt five weirs in the near future, and the
Environment Agency is working with its partners to look at the options for the
remaining structures.
The Sprotbrough project was
funded by the Environment Agency, supported by income from rod licence fees,
plus a significant contribution from Lafarge Tarmac through the Landfill
Community Fund. The fish pass will be maintained by the Canal & River
Trust, which owns the weir and has supported the delivery of the project, along
with the Don Catchment Rivers Trust and the Don Gorge Community
Group.
Nick Soames, project manager at
the Environment Agency, said:
This is a significant step in
getting salmon to Sheffield and restoring sustainable populations of coarse
fish to the River Don.
The effects of industrial
pollution and habitat loss have been reversed, and we are now also starting to
restore habitats. Our rivers are the healthiest they have been for 20 years,
and wildlife is now returning to many watercourses for the first time in
decades.
It’s timely that we can
announce this as we approach World Fish Migration Day, on Saturday 24 May, that
aims to highlight the work going on around the globe to help fish that
migrate.
Jane Thomson, Enterprise Manager
at the Canal & River Trust, said:
As owners of Sprotbrough Weir,
the Trust are pleased to have worked with the Environment Agency, the local
community and Lafarge Tarmac to facilitate a new fish pass which will be
critical in the improving the river for wildlife and providing visitors with an
added attraction in the Don Gorge.
Find out more about World Fish Migration
Day