River Tyne: Work on eel pass and fish counter upgrade begins

Northumbrian Water said the eel pass will improve upstream access

Work is due to begin on a new pass to help dwindling eel numbers in the River Tyne.

Northumbrian Water and the Environment Agency said that fish would be safely removed from the area at Riding Mill in Northumberland while the work is carried out later in September.

As well as the pass, parts of the fish counter, which tracks salmon and sea trout, will also be ungraded.

Northumbrian Water said the pass will improve upstream access for eels.

Ecologists will be on site to rescue the fish as the flow of the river in a section will be diverted

The counter has seen 750,000 fish since it was installed 25 years ago, and the refurbishment work aims to extend its lifetime by a further 25 years.

The number of eels migrating into European rivers is less than 5% of the levels seen in the 1980s, Northumbrian Water said.

'Rescue the fish'

Andy Downer, project manager at Northumbrian Water, said: "Our new fish pass is an incredibly important environmental scheme, which will help to open up the river so that young eels are able to easily migrate upstream.

"As we carry out the work, we will have ecologists on site to rescue the fish as we divert the flow of the river and drain a very small section of it - making sure that the fish are well looked after and isolated away from any work that is taking place."

The fish counter has counted 750,000 fish since it was installed 25 years ago

In 2020, the water firm spent £11m fitting eel protections screens along the Tyne to prevent them from being sucked into water pumping stations.

Morton Heddell-Cowie, fisheries technical officer for the Environment Agency, said: "The operation of the fish counter has enhanced our understanding of the status of salmon and sea trout stocks, as well as of fish movements in response to changes in flow and temperature."