The Environment Agency report:
The recently completed £200,000 project has involved the construction of four fish passes with modifications to four weirs along a 150m stretch of the Cadnam River. The ambitious scheme was devised over three years and took four months to build.
Eels require a different type of pass to coarse and salmonid fish but the scheme at Paultons Park will make way for all types. On site cameras (which are yet to be installed) will help to monitor and record which species are using the upstream fish pass with eel numbers being of particular interest.
This project is just one of 25 that the Environment Agency’s Fisheries and Biodiversity Team have completed over the past year. This project alone has opened up more than 90 per cent of the Cadnam catchment to migrating fish and it will significantly increase the number of fish using the river.
Hannah Barclay, Environment Agency Fisheries & Biodiversity Project Officer, said:
“The construction of these fish passes is part of a wider regional programme of works by the Environment Agency to improve fish migration over man-made barriers in our rivers.
We’re delighted to be able to do this with the support of Paultons Park as it will bring significant benefits to the local environment and wildlife in future years, as well as providing local schoolchildren with a wonderful educational resource.”
Mark Taylor, Paultons Park general Manager, park operations, said:
“We are pleased to have worked with the Environment Agency on the new fish pass. As Paultons Park is located in 140 acres of parkland on the edge of the New Forest National Park we are responsible for ensuring the welfare of all the species located within the Park.
The pass will bring environmental and socio-economic benefits to the local and wider communities, plus it will provide an additional education resource to the schools and groups we welcome to Paultons. Having the opportunity to show and explain the importance of the fish pass project will contribute to the long-term survival of these threatened species.”
The work was carried out under the Water Framework Directive (WFD) which aims to protect and improve the quality of water environments, helping to support habitats and the wildlife which depends on them.
