A FISH pass on the River Exe, at Bridgetown Weir near Dulverton, will help fish reach more than 30 kilometres of Exmoor rivers.
The improved access, the first of the Strategic Exe Weirs (SEW) planned projects along the river, will support Atlantic salmon and brown trout to reach important spawning grounds. It will also enable fish to pass safely up and downstream along 31 kilometres of viable habitat in the Upper Exe and River Quarme.
Phil Turnbull, Fisheries Technical Officer for the Westcountry Rivers Trust and SEW project officer, said: “Every bespoke fish passage improvement we deliver through SEW will reduce the cumulative effects of the many River Exe weirs.
“As SEW aims to improve access for migratory fish throughout the catchment, this is the outcome we want to achieve with all our work restoring the natural free movement of native fish.”
The prefabricated Larinier fishway, which has been slotted into the existing infrastructure to save on costs and minimise disturbance to the local environment, replaces an ineffective pass built in the 1950s.
The fish pass includes a new fish screen which will direct smolts away from the historic mill leat and into the main river via a new smolt chute during the spring/summer smolt run.
This will reduce any delay and risks in their migration and improve their prospects of reaching the sea.
The smolt chute
Alex Swan, the Environment Agency’s Exe Catchment Coordinator, said: “Bridgetown Weir limited access to prime salmon and trout spawning habitat in the upper Exe but three years of partnership working has secured open access to this expanse of fantastic habitat, helping to increase population sustainability of native fish.”
Many organisations have contributed to and supported the new fish pass, including the Environment Agency, South West Water, Exmoor National Park, Westcountry Rivers Trust and the River Exe & Tributaries Association.
Find out more about SEW at wrt.org.uk/project/strategic-exe-weirs/