When building a fish pass the phrase “You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs” can come to mind. Unfortunately, the construction of a fish pass almost always leads to the temporary disruption of a section of river bank, or weir. The result is that in the short term, the area can end up looking a bit unsightly.
The good news is that, if left to recover and given a helping hand with the introduction of seeds or saplings, the working area around a fish pass can quickly recover and the resulting vegetation will help to conceal the fish pass. A clear example of this is the fish pass at Dinham weir, on the River Teme. Fishtek designed and project managed the build of this fish pass in the late summer of 2015. Immediately following construction, the pass and surrounding area looked like the images below:
Less than two years later and the vegetation has grown back and the site now looks like the images below. As is clear from these images, the plants and small saplings around the pass have greatly softened the look of the fish pass. This is helped by the alternative hand-railing that was fitted, which was done to improve the aesthetic appearance of the fish pass. The end result is an efficient fish and eel pass which will enable fish to easily move upstream past the weir that blends into the surrounding landscape.
