Image description: Shoals of juvenile salmon, known as smolts struggling with barriers in the River Itchen. Image by Kieran Gillingham.

Over 500km of Yorkshire rivers is opening up as physical barriers, a legacy from the region’s industrial past, are removed in a bid to support fish migration and improve habitats.

Led by the Environment Agency, the Rivers Trust and Yorkshire Water, known as Great Yorkshire Rivers, has set a target to transform the county’s waterways into thriving ecosystems by 2043 by allowing fish to travel freely and breed.

The work is part of a £21m programme to remove or modify structures, many associated with mills and heavy industries that were powered by Yorkshire’s waterways.

Anna Gerring, the Rivers Trust’s deputy director for strategy and development, said that tackling barriers to fish migration would also bring wider environmental benefits, including improved water quality and enhanced biodiversity.

River fish flourish again

Over the last decade, more than 100 obstacles have already been removed, including the Hirst Mill Weir on the River Aire, Stocksbridge Weir on the River Don, and Bowers Mill Weir on the Black Brook near Halifax.

Earlier this year and for the first time in more than two centuries, Atlantic salmon have been confirmed as breeding in the River Don after more than 20 years of work to reconnect the river, allowing salmon to return.

As part of the next phase of funding, Yorkshire Water said it had secured £11.4m, with an additional £10m to be targeted through the wider partnership.

The money would support work to open up 310 miles (500km) of river habitat across Yorkshire over the next five years, the organisations said. Other delivery partners include Aire Rivers Trust, Don Catchment Rivers Trust, Natural England, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Canal and River Trust.