Boston Spa Weir Fish Ladder - Boston Spa, UK - Fish Ladders on Waymarking.com

Turbulent Lives on the Wharfe

This fish pass is a modern version of the old salmon ladders which were built to help migrating salmon bypass weirs. It was built by the Environment Agency in 2010 with money from the European Union as part of a big scheme to improve European rivers.

The ruined building adjacent to the modern fish pass was the water cellar of Dam House, which for part of its life may have served as another, earlier example of fish management. it is believed that in Georgian times the cellar was used to keep caught salmon alive in water filled tanks, fed by an upstream leat, until they were marketed.

Why is the pass necessary?

Barriers like this weir can prove a troublesome obstacle to fish. In earlier times fish populations particularly salmon, were much larger and water flow was more reliable. But modern day demands for water by homes, agriculture and industry can at times seriously reduce the flow over the weir. Conversely, run off in the Dales has also changes and water is channelled much more quickly today than it used to be, so in periods of heavy rain there is often too much. These wilder fluctuating flow rates coupled with reduced fish numbers through pollution, over-fishing and habitat changes make measures such as this fish pass essential if current fish numbers are to be maintained and increased.

The fish pass is designed primarily for migratory fish such as salmon, eels and elvers, sea trout and lampreys. However permanent non-migratory residents such as barbel, dace and chub are also benefitting, passing up and down to different stretches of the river to find the best feeding and breeding grounds.

The Boston Spa fish pass has made a major contribution to the healthy ecology of the whole river from its source in Langstrothdale to the Humber Estuary. The return of the otter to the Wharfe is a welcome testament to this.