River work to help critically endangered eels

River work to help critically endangered eels

ByEd Hanson

Reporting fromin Longtown

A £50,000 project is under way to help critically endangered European eels move across a tricky stretch of river.

West Cumbria Rivers Trust is dismantling a redundant weir at Glinger Burn near Longtown to help the eel and other fish migrate up and down the river more easily.

The European eel has seen a 90% decline in the last 30 years, the environmental charity said, and risked injury while leaping up the weir when levels are low.

Assistant director Luke Bryant said: "Maybe in the winter when there's really heavy flow they can, but a lot of the time they'll struggle."

The conservation work, funded by the Environment Agency, will see diggers spend the next two weeks taking down the weir.

The area will then be made more fish-friendly by building in natural steps that will increase habitats and allow the creatures to move up and down stream and spawn.

"We call them step pools and that will give us that balance of a healthy river with no more barriers," Bryant said.

This is the first of a number of projects the trust has planned over the summer to help species at risk.

Bryant said he hoped the work would help "right some wrongs" that affected not just eel numbers but also salmon and trout in rivers.

He said: "If we can fix even a small bit of river like this in one summer… and lots of other river trusts will be doing similar work, we'll have a much better chance that the species in this country can be more resilient."

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