Hadfield's Weir

Image: © Mike Nield Taken: 19 Mar 2015

River Don, Meadowhall, Sheffield The River Don was once one of England’s most prolific fisheries, with Atlantic salmon migrating up the river in large numbers to spawn in its headwaters. However, the industries that made Sheffield famous, and the associated pollution that resulted along the Don Valley and the wider Don Catchment, saw a huge decline in all fish species and by the mid-1800s the fish had disappeared from much of the river system. Fortunately the rivers in South Yorkshire are now slowly recovering and in the last 30 years or so there have been major improvements in water quality. Although evidence of the industrial legacy remains, the river and its banks are once again beginning to support an increasing range of plants and animals and water birds have now returned to this stretch of the Don. Mallard are by far the most common, but you may catch a glimpse of a kingfisher, heron or grey wagtail and there have been recent reports of dippers. Although fish populations have re-established, some physical obstructions remain. Weirs, left over from our industrial activities, prevent fish from migrating upstream and fully exploiting different habitats in the catchment for feeding, rearing and breeding. In particular, the enigmatic salmon cannot return while barriers stop them migrating to their spawning grounds. Funded by Defra and the Environment Agency, a fish pass has been constructed at Hadfields Weir to enable a range of fish species, among them, dace, chub, salmon, barbel, trout, eels and grayling, to by-pass the weir and swim further up the Don than they have for over 150 years. Acting like a watery staircase, fish and eels are now able to swim or wriggle their way over the weir. In time this will help the fish populations to grow, diversify and become more sustainable.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0