The annual Salmon migration has returned to a river in Cumbria, having once disappeared altogether.
Research shows that Salmon numbers have been falling for several years, but staff and volunteers from a partnership in Cumbria have been working to help them overcome the threats they now face.
New figures released from Haweswater, where the RSPB works in partnership with landowner United Utilities show that Salmon are once again thriving in Swindale Beck at the site.
The most recent survey of Salmon Redds (conducted in the winter of 2022), found 20, which is good news.
A redd is a depression in the gravel at the bottom of the Beck created by female salmon when laying their eggs. They create redds using their body and tail, digging out the gravel on the floor of the Beck and piling it up. They dig a number of redds before depositing a few hundred eggs in each.
The survey was conducted on Swindale Beck at Haweswater, which having been artificially straightened around two centuries ago, was restored to a more natural curving course through a partnership project. This slowed the flow of the river, creating habitat more suitable for spawning Salmon and Trout.
Since this work was completed, Salmon have been returning year on year to spawn. Atlantic Salmon were already spawning in other areas of Swindale Beck, migrating from the sea via the Solway Firth and the River Eden.
However, the old, straightened part of the river was too fast flowing for Salmon to spawn and many of the natural features that Salmon need had been removed, so the
project created a new habitat by putting the curves back into this stretch of the beck.Surveys have been carried out on the river since and show that both in 2020 and in 2022 there were a record number of 20 Salmon redds in Swinddale Beck.
Lee Schofield, RSPB Senior Site Manager at Haweswater said: “It’s fantastic to see these positive results for Salmon here at Haweswater and crucial that we continue to work hard to halt the decline of this important part of our ecosystem.
The partnership work to restore rivers in Cumbria is a great example of how positive environmental improvements can be delivered within a farmed landscape. Finding ways to ensure these upland habitats perform once again for water quality, wildlife and people is at the centre of everything we do.”
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