Work on creating an £8.5m ‘fish pass’ that will allow species to swim freely up the River Trent at Colwick is nearing completion – with a September opening date recently announced.
The structure at Holme Sluices will be the largest of its kind in the country and will serve as an ‘elevator’ to allow fish to hop up and downstream.
The Environment Agency said there were presently a number of barriers to fish migration within the River Trent catchment.
These include the Holme Sluices, a major flood management structure that was built in the 1950s.
The agency says the direct environmental benefits of the fish pass will be £18.6m.
Simon Ward, fisheries technical specialist, said: “Our priority is to open up the River Trent for all fish species.
“By installing fish passage, it will become easier for salmon and other fish to reach their spawning and feeding grounds.”
He said the agency was working with a number of partners on the wider project for the river, known as the Trent Gateway, and other possible plans could include a visitor centre telling the story of the Trent, its history, ecology and how it has shaped communities along its length.
8.5 million to spend here, yet they can’t provide a bridge for cyclists and pedestrians to get from Radcliffe to Colwick !
Can the fish get passed all the sewage dumped by Severn Trent water company?
How can fish get back to their spawning grounds when they could only get as far as colwick sluces. ?
Notice top right, we have the slalom course. A route around the gates, that led to a return of migratory fish species, that the sluices stopped. 150,000 new salmon get put in up stream each year, but very few return. There are better rivers.