Lady's bridge weir work

[dars35]

There has been a bit of discussion on this topic on the fishing page of this website, fish-passes are being put in throughout the city in the hope salmon will repopulate the river

 

I've been in contact with someone at the Don Catchment Rivers Trust, who were originally behind the plans, the idea being that if members of the public know salmon have returned, they might think of the water as something more than an open sewer, as many members of the public still believe, and hopefully people will begin to treat it with respect

 

the fact is the river has actually been very good water quality for a number of years now, with thriving wildlife - to the non-fishing members, it currently sustains wild brown trout in the upper reaches, and a species called grayling, which are a truly beautiful fish, but which are very intolerant to impurities, so the fact these two species are already present is an indication the river is already in exceptionally good condition, that's mostly thanks to the Environment Agency

 

my original question to the DCRT was why do we need salmon to prove this, and their answer echo'd what I've written above: that the public perception is the river is filthy, the presence of salmon changes everything!

[Bargepole23]

There has been a bit of discussion on this topic on the fishing page of this website, fish-passes are being put in throughout the city in the hope salmon will repopulate the river

 

I've been in contact with someone at the Don Catchment Rivers Trust, who were originally behind the plans, the idea being that if members of the public know salmon have returned, they might think of the water as something more than an open sewer, as many members of the public still believe, and hopefully people will begin to treat it with respect

 

the fact is the river has actually been very good water quality for a number of years now, with thriving wildlife - to the non-fishing members, it currently sustains wild brown trout in the upper reaches, and a species called grayling, which are a truly beautiful fish, but which are very intolerant to impurities, so the fact these two species are already present is an indication the river is already in exceptionally good condition, that's mostly thanks to the Environment Agency

 

my original question to the DCRT was why do we need salmon to prove this, and their answer echo'd what I've written above: that the public perception is the river is filthy, the presence of salmon changes everything!

 

I cycle along the Five Weirs walk on my way to work each day - at least, I did, and will do again, once it's all re-opened - quite often see fishermen in waders midstream around Attercliffe, and sometimes fishing from the bank near Holiday Inn.

[Agent Orange]

I think the idea is great, but my major concern is that most of the salmon will have been poached before they get anywhere near Lady's Bridge. I mean, you only have to take a walk down 5 Weirs to see the amount of illegal fishing going on to realise that it could potentially get worse if they discover salmon in there. If this issue is dealt with, then magic

[dars35]

bargepole23, if you're ever up around the Middlewood/Oughtibridge or Deepcar areas through the winter, you'll probably see me up to my knees, fishing for the grayling...

[alchresearch]

Not Sheffield, but fish / weir related:

 

Small fry sightings give hope of new life in river

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/small-fry-sightings-give-hope-of-new-life-in-river/story-29636933-detail/story.html

 

I thought the wider master plan though was to remove weirs, which were built for historic reasons, such as powering mills, raising river bed levels or redirecting water courses, and are now just a hazard for collecting debris after heavy rain?

[DCRT]

Photos of the ongoing works in the river and an explanation are on our blog at doncatchment.wordpress.com

Fish passage is being created over 5 weirs by DCRT - Lady's Br, Kelham Is, Burton weir (Norfolk Br) Steelbank/Packhorse and Brightside

 

Also there is a fish pass being installed on Ickles weir as part of the new biomass plant and a hydroscheme at Aldwarke weir in Rotherham with a fishpass included

 

---------- Post added 07-10-2016 at 12:38 ----------

 

Not Sheffield, but fish / weir related:

 

I thought the wider master plan though was to remove weirs, which were built for historic reasons, such as powering mills, raising river bed levels or redirecting water courses, and are now just a hazard for collecting debris after heavy rain?

 

Weirs are removed where possible but often they are of historical value especially in Sheffield where people are proud of the industrial heritage that they represent. Some are are still used for navigation or abstraction.