Salmon, sea trout and eels will soon be able to swim up the River Derwent (tributary of the River Tyne) for the first time in hundreds of years when work to build a fish pass has been completed.

Funding has been secured by the Environment Agency and Gateshead Council to build a new fish pass at Derwenthaugh weir, also known as Lady’s Steps, about one mile away from where the River Derwent joins the River Tyne near the Metro Centre.

The large weir was built in the 18th century and has stopped fish from reaching spawning grounds up the Derwent ever since.

The work will also benefit species like brown trout, grayling and dace that become stranded below the weir after floods.

The fish pass will be a sloping channel built into the weir with two resting pools which provide areas for fish to rest as they go upstream. This will also help to reduce the flow of the water.

Work on the fish pass is set to start in January 2012 and should be finished by spring 2012.

Jon Shelley, project manager at the Environment Agency, said: “By building a fish pass we’ll be allowing salmon and sea trout to move freely into the River Derwent for the first time since the 18th century.

“We try to help fish along rivers wherever we can, and are always looking for ways we can increase the opportunity for affordable salmon and sea trout angling. This project will open up access to a salmon and sea trout fishery on the Tyne that everyone can enjoy.

“We’re delighted that local communities are taking a keen interest in the return of the Derwent salmon.”

Special precautions
The whole area near the weir was formerly a coke works. The site was the subject of a large clean-up project by Gateshead Borough Council in the 1990's, but some historic contamination from the coking industry still remains below the weir. Special precautions will be taken to prevent any pollution damaging the environment.

A dam will also be built around the works to keep the river out and minimise the potential risks. Any water entering the working area will be treated to remove any pollution before being returned to the river.

Gateshead Council cabinet member for transport and environment Cllr John McElroy said:

“The River Derwent was once at the heart of an industrial and heavily polluted landscape, but the transformation since is nothing short of amazing. This fish pass represents the latest major improvement for wildlife in the Derwent Valley, an area now known more for its wildlife than its industrial past. I’m sure that the newly accessible upstream stretches of the Derwent will provide a fantastic home for a variety of new fish species too.”

Water framework directive
The project is partly funded by money from the Water Framework Directive. The Environment Agency receives money from the government to implement this directive, which is European legislation designed to improve and protect all waters – on the surface and underground.

The River Tyne upstream of Derwenthaugh weir currently achieves ‘moderate’ ecological status and it is hoped that by building the fish pass and encouraging more fish upstream, the river will soon be classed as ‘good’.

The Environment Agency is also currently working in partnership with Durham County Council to improve fish passage further up the River Derwent at Ebchester Weir.

It is hoped that the work will result in the Derwent boasting a healthy salmon and sea trout fishery in the near future.

There are some good pictures here. It will be interesting to compare the Derwent with the Monnow as time passes, as a salmon fishery.

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The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'

Do you know if the hoped for new salmon and sea trout fishery will be allowed to develop from natural strays or will there be an elemrnt of 'pump-prime stocking' if it hasn't already commenced that is?



Interesting article on the Derwent from an historic perspective: Part one: the early years « Derwent Angling Association (both images 'hotlinked' to this).

The River Derwent, a small tributary of the River Tyne, which,since the Middle Ages, had formed the border between Northumberland and County Durham.

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Save the softmouth trout

Nice idea but wont the toffs be after the fishing , and were is the historical evidence for seatrout running the Derwent? a friend of mine is doubtfull of this and he fishes the river regularly, not against this, just wondering, easker1

Great news. A Lovely river just got lovelier.

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"It is not how abundant nor how considerable our catch be, but rather to the sport, and manner in which our quarry, the noble trout is angled."
http://geordietrout.blogspot.com/

See when the frozen rivers all melted 12 thousand years ago, where did our trout come from?

A very good point, JP

Was it the proto-fish farmers

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"...hooking mortality is higher than you'd expect: further evidence that as a numbers game, catch-and-release fishing isn't always as straightforward as it seems" [B]John Gierach[/B]

It might have been Seeking

I'm more than sure that you have the answer, and all the precise figures, in a neat set of graphs.

Evidently from the Atlas mountains,the strains had to come up from the south Uk Brownies carry the same signature as the north African trout,I have fished the Derwent and I used to work in the area, but a friend of mine who lives locally and fishes the river regularly is doubtfull that there were ever migratory fish in the river,and it would be hope that the Northumbria water dont have another pollution incident, easker 1

What possible evidence would he have to support that claim? Was there an impassable waterfall? I have not heard of one.

Having said that, it will be interesting to see what happens to the trout fishing.