Twenty years of hard work will be rewarded on Monday when theThames Salmon Trust and the Environment Agency open the last link ina chain of fish passes, allowing the ‘king of fish’ to reach spawninggrounds for the first time in nearly 200 years.
The completion of the pass on the weir at Greenham Mill inNewbury, Berkshire, means adult salmon returning from the sea will beable to reach the ideal spawning grounds of the River Kennet.
It is the last link in a chain of 39 fish passes which have builton weirs between the tidal Thames in London and Hamstead Marshall inBerkshire.
It means salmon will now be able to bypass the man-madeobstructions in their journeys back to the places where they have thebest chance of developing a natural self sustaining population.
On Monday Lord Heseltine will unveil a plaque to commemorate theopening of the River Kennet Millennium Fish Pass Project betweenBlake’s Lock in Reading – where the Kennet meets the Thames – andHamstead Marshall.
Sixteen salmon ladders are now open on the Kennet, funded with£1.4 million raised by the Thames Salmon Trust, including£700,000 from the Millennium Commission, and £700,000 fromthe Environment Agency.
The fish passes on the Kennet where not just designed with salmonin mind – most can be used by other species in the river includingroach, chub, barbel and gudgeon.
Lord Heseltine attends the event as a commissioner of theMillennium Commission.
