Our Rivers Recovery & Renewal: Returning Salmon to Yorkshire's
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Our Rivers Recovery & Renewal: Returning salmon to Yorkshire’s post-industrial rivers Institute of Fisheries Management London & South East Branch Martin Slater Yorkshire Area Environment Programme Manager Returning Tuesday 29 May 2018 the wild. Dendritic - The power Salmon and rivers get of beer everywhere alliteration Unfinished story…. diadromous Coarse and game anadromous and salmonids/ non migratory fish catadromous salmonids/eels EstablishedA note selfon-sustaining terminology salmon populations in the Aire, Don, Wharfe and other Yorkshire rivers. Where are we? “Before the industrial revolution Yorkshire’s Rivers were the best salmon rivers in England” – so they say River Don (boom time) • 1637 - Don at Sheffield (John Harrison): “ye chiefest river within this manor is ye river that passeth through the same, wherein we get store of salmon” • 1689 - selling for less than 2d per pound (approx. 2p per kg) due to its ready availability. • 1700 – in apprenticeships contracts a clause was common ‘that the master should not compel the lad to eat salmon more than twice a week’ River Ouse early 1800s & 1900s 54lb 91 netting stations still operating & annual commercial catch could still exceed 30 tons (more than 6000 salmon). 31 species recorded in the Don By 1840 the River Aire in Leeds was described as a: ‘reservoir of poison, careful kept for the purpose of breeding pestilence in the town.’ ‘The hand of man and the neglect of our ancestors have deprived us of a river which must have been a vision of glittering beauty’ - Ernest Phillips (1921) editor of the Doncaster Chronicle 9 Ammonia River Don 1979 - 2018 Ammonia River Ouse 1984 - 2018 Dissolved O2 River Don 1994 - 2018 Dissolved O2 River Ouse 1994 - 2018 Salmonids: exposure to low levels of dissolved oxygen (less than approximately 5.0 - 6.0 mg/l) can result in mortality (Doudoroff & Shumway 1970, in Weithman & Haas 1984) Weirs, weirs and weirs – we have a lot of weirs in Yorkshire! Recovery…. Yorkshire Water Environmental Quality Schemes AMP1 1990 – 1995 £600M Control of Pollution Act 2 dominates AMP2 1995 – 2000 £750M Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive dominates AMP3 2000 – 2005 £650M Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive dominates AMP4 2005 – 2010 £400M Freshwater Fish Directive dominates EA Robust regulation Ammonia - River Don 1979 - 2018 Ammonia - River Ouse 1984 - 2018 Dissolved O2 - River Don 1994 - 2018 Dissolved O2 - River Ouse 1994 - 2018 Salmonids: exposure to low levels of dissolved oxygen (less than approximately 5.0 - 6.0 mg/l) can result in mortality (Doudoroff & Shumway 1970, in Weithman & Haas 1984) WB classification as % in YA Grand Management Catchment Good Moderate Poor Bad Total Aire and Calder 4.80% 91.20% 4.00% 0.00% 100.00% Derwent Humber 12.68% 69.01% 14.08% 4.23% 100.00% Don and Rother 5.68% 82.95% 10.23% 1.14% 100.00% Esk and Coast 45.45% 50.00% 4.55% 0.00% 100.00% Hull and East Riding 10.20% 79.59% 6.12% 4.08% 100.00% Humber AWB 83.33% 16.67% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00% Humber TraC 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% 0.00% 100.00% Swale Ure Nidd and Ouse Upper 12.98% 65.65% 16.79% 4.58% 100.00% Wharfe and Ouse Lower 18.87% 66.04% 9.43% 5.66% 100.00% Grand Total 14.49% 73.14% 9.72% 2.65% 100.00% Water quality right Green shoots of recovery - first signs. River Aire November 2002 - 16lb salmon River Aire - Knottingley weir in 2010 Salmon Sea trout River Ure 2012 • 35lb and a 40lb fish were caught (rod and line) • 3000+ fish counted ascended Westwick pass Sprotbrough weir River Don - a salmon caught below the weir. 26 rod caught numbers 2014 declared rod catch = 10x higher than Tees and higher than many established North West rivers (e.g. Kent), and other principal salmon rivers such as the Yorkshire Esk. Water quality right Fish returning Back to weirs - the limiting factor 2,096 weirs and top 100 39 Fish passage in Y & NE– where do we begin? • Top 100 sites • 88 years • Different approach needed • 2013 Prioritisation study 40 42 Study Principles… 1. We will develop a 5 year programme focussed on key barriers in priority catchments to ensure that our investment can realise significant benefits at the catchment scale within the medium term. 2. Our prioritisation will be informed by consideration of the best available evidence, potential outcomes and likely costs. 3. We will lead by example in developing fish passage at our own assets. This will include where repair works provide an opportunity to address significant fish passage issues. 4. Our programme implementation will select the most cost effective options to secure WFD compliance and wider benefit. 5. Where possible we will work in partnership to deliver fish passage improvements, building capacity for external delivery and securing resources and funding for fish passage. 6. We will ensure that we learn from every project in the programme (and experiences elsewhere) to maximise value for money, follow best practice and take opportunities to innovate. A Northern learning hub will provide the focus for this. 7. We will actively communicate our programme to stakeholders to ensure our decision making is transparent and understood and to build support for delivery. Priority Yorkshire Rivers Wharfe Aire Don Water quality right Fish returning Fish passage prioritised Legislation and the mechanism to drive change. WFD & Catchment Based Approach The Humber Basin Management Plan (2009) “All rivers within the Humber Basin region will hold naturally self-sustaining spawning populations of migratory fish by 2021” “We will seek to remove all artificial barriers to fish migration for all species, starting with the highest priority obstructions” "We will work with communities and partners to provide opportunities and funding for the removal of prioritised barriers" Catchment based approach: EA Catchment co-ordinators will... • Main point of contact with EA • Share evidence & raise awareness • Agreeing actions and priorities with interested parties To do this we • Work with the partnership group need to build to sponsor delivery through long term others relationships • Technical support and sign and engage posting to funding bids others Water quality right Fish returning Fish passage Funding prioritised ? CaBA Partnerships EA team place Lets make it happen! Make it happen by creating a vision and telling a compelling story Perception is everything.. then and now Back it up with substance – delivery 2014! Create a compelling story… Salmon and beer Promotional work with the Don Network and the Sheffield Brewery Company Create a compelling story… The power of alliteration Salmon to Sheffield/ Salmon to Skipton (DNAire) / Fish to the Friars Re-introduction of diadromous (anadroumous and catadroumous) species to empty or vacant ecological niches Create a compelling story… … by telling a compelling story The man/women in the street, talk about it everywhere, getting into public consciousness…. Drip, drip, drip… “The River Aire and its environment matter to the people of Leeds and the wider region. That is why I am delighted that the two fish passes built through the Leeds FAS are supporting the improving health of the river and the return of salmon and otters for the first time in nearly 200 years.” SPROTBROUGH WEIR FISH PASS ON THE RIVER DON Art…. in public places (sculpture produced by Anthony Downing, Agency EM officer, at Sprotbrough fish pass) May 2018 What have we achieved? 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Weir CurrentWeir situation FisheriesCurrent statussituation Weir Fisheries status CurrentWeir situation FisheriesWeirCurrent situationstatus CurrentFisheries situation status Status Wharncliffe Side Upper/Lodge Holmes CollapsedWharncliffe Side Upper/Lodge Holmes PassableCollapsed WharncliffePassable Side Upper/Lodge Holmes CollapsedWharncliffe Side Upper/Lodge Holmes PassableWharncliffeCollapsed Side Upper/Lodge CollapsedPassable Passable Holmes Wharncliffe Side Fish passage proposed YW NEP 2020 Wharncliffe Side YorkshireWharncliffe Water Side asset NotFish passable passage proposed Not passable Wharncliffe Side WharncliffeFish passage Side proposed Fish passageYW NEP proposed 2018 Delivery 2018 YW Business Plan Yorkshire Water business plan Crag View/Oughtibridge Upper Collapsed Crag View/OughtibridgePassable Upper Collapsed Passable Crag View/Oughtibridge Upper Collapsed Passable Crag View/Oughtibridge Upper CragCollapsed View/Oughtibridge Upper CollapsedPassable Passable Oughtibridge/ Middlewood Damaged Oughtibridge/Passable Middlewood in high flows Damaged Passable in high flows Oughtibridge/ Middlewood Damaged Passable in high flows Oughtibridge/ Middlewood Oughtibridge/Damaged Middlewood DamagedPassable in high flows Passable in high flows Middlewood Iron Works DamagedMiddlewood & c ouldIron Worksbe removed PassableDamaged in high & c ouldflows be removed MiddlewoodPassable Iron inWorks high flows Damaged & could be removed Passable in high flows Middlewood Iron Works MiddlewoodDamaged & Ironcould Works be removed DamagedPassable in high flows Passable in high flows Beeley Woods Upper CollapsedBeeley Woods Upper PassableCollapsed BeeleyPassable Woods Upper Collapsed Passable Beeley Woods Upper BeeleyCollapsed Woods Upper CollapsedPassable Passable Beeley Woods Lower PBeeleyotential Woods removal Lower NotP passableroposed removal project BeeleyNot Woods passable Lower Partially removed Passable Beeley Woods Lower Partially removed Passable EA EABeeley 2016 Woods Lower Partially removed Passable EA 2016 Niagara /Wadsley AlaskanNiagara fish /Wadsley pass PassableAlaskan fish pass NiagaraPassable /Wadsley Alaskan fish