08-08-2025
On this day: salmon Dale migration enabled by 'DNAire' fish passes
On this day in 2020, the Telegraph and Argus reported that work had begun to install fish passes on two weirs in Leeds, with the intention of enabling salmon to swim up the River Aire for the first time in 150 years.
Contractors for the Environment Agency had moved on-site at Armley and Newley weirs on the River Aire.
Meanwhile, similar projects at Saltaire and Kirkstall weirs were nearing completion.
Work at the four locations, and a three-year community engagement programme, together made up the Developing the Natural Aire (DNAire) project.
The project was designed to help "Atlantic salmon to complete their mammoth migration from the sea to spawning habitats beyond Skipton and into the Yorkshire Dales" - with other migratory fish such as trout, eels, and lamprey able to benefit too.
The fish passes help these species navigate over weirs, erected during the Industrial Revolution, which are too high for them to leap.
The DNAire project was being led by the Environment Agency in partnership with Aire Rivers Trust and Yorkshire Water.
It was partially funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Yorkshire Water, and Craven District Council.
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