Monday 23rd September
Report written by James Smith
On a rainy Monday evening two gregarious goodgymers gathered to assess the freeways of fish. There are various types of fish passes on the weirs on the River Don which allow fish to migrate upstream. Our job tonight was to make sure that these paths past the stone obstacles were easily accessible and able to fulfill their intended roles.
We ran to four weirs and noted down the conditions of the different types of pass on each one to report back to the DCRT, alongside pictures for their records. The weirs we surveyed were Lady's Bridge, Walk Mill, Burton's and Sanderson's.
After running a reyt respectable distance river reviewing we headed back to the Showroom where we stretched off and debriefed.
Sheffield's industrial past saw the implementation of weirs on the River Don to power the factories. These flow control devices inhibit natural migratory paths for fish. To combat this, fish passes have been installed at the weirs throughout Sheffield. These are important for the movement of fish (particularly salmon) between habitats and breeding grounds. The Don Catchment Rivers Trust have been working on the River Don to bring back the salmon population to the area and now efforts are needed to maintain this. GoodGymers will be part of long term surveying and monitoring of the fish passes to ensure they have not been blocked and remain fully functional.
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