Tonight we were tasked with inspecting the various types of fish passes on the weirs of the River Don for the Don Catchment Rivers Trust (DCRT). This is to make sure that fish are free to complete their migrations upstream unencumbered. The main species to make use of these are salmon, trout, and grayling, along with dace, chub, and barbel. The passes also help eels and other fish species navigate weirs that were previously impassable. The data and photographs we record are used by the DCRT to assess which passes need maintenance. Thankfully, on this occasion all of the passes we inspected were fully functioning with no obvious damage.

A fin-tastic time was had by all

We managed to survey three weirs- Lady's Bridge, Walk Mill, and Burton Weir- before running into a blocked section of path, which I thought, wrongly, that we would be able to negotiate. We did discover that this section was blooming with blackberries and rosehips, if any foragers are looking for a tip-off. The fenced-off section is absolutely thriving with no foot traffic passing through.

The following is the gathered inspection data for each of the passes. Lady's Bridge: Clear at top. Clear at bottom. Flowing freely. No damage visible or debris present. Walk Mill: Clear at top. Clear at bottom. Flowing freely. No damage visible or debris present. Burton Weir: Clear at top. Clear at bottom. Flowing freely. No damage visible or debris present.

On a hot, muggy evening it was goodgym time again and this week we were surveying the cities fish pases to check that they are free from debris.

Keeping the fish pases free from debris is essential to allow for the fish to navigate the rivers to get to their prefered place to lay their eggs.

The passes we saw were all in good health with free flowing water and now even have QR stickers so that anyone passing the fish passes on the weirs can report of there are any obstructions.

Why not give it a go next time you are passing?