Hadfield Weir Fish Pass - Meadowhall, UK - Fish Ladders on Waymarking.com

There are 5 weirs on the river between this spot and Sheffield City centre and there is a walk along the river named the 5 weirs walk. It also forms part of a circular walk linking the river and the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal named the Blue Loop.

An information board near the fish pass has the following information.

The River Don : Hadfield Weir Fish Pass
The River Don was once one of England's most prolific fisheries, with Atlantic salmon migrating up the river in large numbers to spawn in its headwaters.

The industries that made Sheffield famous and the associated pollution that resulted along the Don Valley and the wider Don Catchment saw a huge decline in all fish species and by the mid 1800s the fish had disappeared from much of the river system.

Fortunately the rives in South Yorkshire are recovering steadily and in the last 30 years or so there have been major improvements in water quality. But while fish populations have re-established, physical obstructions such as weirs, left over from our industrial activities, are preventing fish from fully exploiting different habitats in the catchment for feeding, rearing and breeding. In particular, the enigmatic salmon cannot return while barriers stop them migrating to their spawning grounds.

The Fish Pass
The Don Catchment Rivers Trust secured funding from DEFRA and the environment agency to enable this fish pass to be built. Fish and eel passes act like watery staircases or escalators which allow fish and eels to swim or wriggle their way over a weir.

The fish pass will enable a range of fish species, among them, dace, chub, salmon, barbel, trout, eels and grayling, to better utilise habitat in the catchment. Some will be able to swim further up the Don than they have for over 150 years. In time this will help the fish populations in the river to grow, diversify and become more sustainable.

How Fish Passes Work
There area series of symmetrical close-spaced baffles in the fish pass channel to redirect the flow of water. This allows fish to swim up the pass and over the weir. The baffles can also provide resting places for fish as they travel up the pass. The pass creates an attraction flow of water - as it suggests, this attracts the fish as it would in a natural situation, and encourages them to move up river.

The eel pass is made from plastic tiles with protrusions. The smaller nodules help the elvers and the larger ones help the adult eels allowing them to wriggle over the weir and move upstream.

River/Waterway: The River Don

Visit Instructions:
Please share a self-made picture of the Fish Ladder and tell us something about it. Did you see any fishes? You do not have to be in the picture, neither does your GPSr.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   03/11/2024 I_Rhys visited it