River slowly dropping but still well coloured.


Below latest from WUF.  Again a lot have hand wringing re discharges from a quarry but nothing about the regular sewage discharges along the watercourse.  Some fish above an adapted weir apparently but again how many -what was the result of the spawning, any electro fishing figures, redd counts etc?  As usual a success hailed but what about an end result.  I'm not sure historically the Arrow has ever been an 'important part of the Wye catchment ' at least in terms of producing smolts. Wouldn't a smolt trap tell us otherwise. Might not the 'generous donation' be well spent in this area to tell us whats actually going on rather than more fencing which immediately is claimed to restore the fenced section ofriver. It of course does no such thing.

WUF UPDATE: The ARROW STORY 16th June 2016 It's time to tell you about some problems we have been trying to resolve over a lengthy period of time with (at last) some good news and who we should thank for it. The Arrow is a significant river that rises in Radnorshire, Mid Wales and flows essentially eastwards to join the Lugg near Leominster. Historically, it always had a good head of trout and grayling. A few salmon once spawned in its lower sections but this ceased when the fish pass on Hampton Court weir on the Lugg "disappeared", but started again when the then EA built a pass there in 2003. Then, from 2008 onwards, we built a series of baulk passes and other easements that allowed salmon to ascend to the very top of the catchment, perhaps for the first time in hundreds of years. One of the barriers at Kington was a blockstone replacement for an historic weir that had previously been washed away. Following consents, we built a prebarrage pass in 2010 that allowed fish to get upstream. Subsequently, salmon and large trout were found to have spawned quite some distance above. However, an ad hoc inspection in 2014 by WUF found that the weir had been raised with a sheer sided concrete crest, which filled the original running lines. Its purpose was to ensure as much water as possible was diverted through a leat and thence through a turbine. It transpired that no consent had been obtained for this and it was also clear that no parr, smolt or adult brown trout would escape damage in the turbine. EA issued an order to the weir owner to remove the raised section, which was taken on appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. The EA stuck with it and recently we heard that the appeal was rejected and that the previous height of the weir should be restored. So a very big thanks to the EA's Dane Broomfield and fishery team members Chris Bainger and Brecht Morris. Also a pat on the back for ourselves for finding it! Another problem for the Arrow has been the frequent discharge of sediment from the quarries at Gore, Strinds and Dolyhir (see here for the problems that fine sediments bring to rivers). The former discharges into the Hindwell (a Lugg tributary) while the latter two into the Arrow via the Gilwern/Back Brook. We and most of Kington have taken the matter up countless times with Tarmac and Natural Resources Wales, the upshot of which is that the quarry is building settling tanks and other infrastructure, due to be finished early this autumn, to prevent sediment reaching either river. We have also secured funding from Tarmac's Landfill Fund and received a generous donation to complete the access work on the Arrow and continue habitat restoration in this important part of the Wye catchment. Another big thank you is in order there.

Atlantic Salmon Federation News   Fri., June 17, 2016

ASF RIVERNOTES - Salmon returns from Maine to Newfoundland ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Cool weather and good water is starting to bring Atlantic salmon into some of our rivers. Read more details. http://asf.ca/asf-river-reports-june-17-2016.html Greenland Won't Give Up Going After Salmon ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ASF's Sue Scott provides details from the recent international meetings of NASCO a venue each year for decisions on Atlantic salmon matters - including harvests. http://asf.ca/greenland-won-t-give-up-going-after-salmon.html ASF RESEARCH BLOG Bids Farewell to Norwegian Associate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not all research is in the field. A Norwegian PhD student has been assisting with analysis of ASF's satellite tag data, and is now heading home. Details of this and other activities. http://asf.ca/research-in-the-field.html Final Piece Complete for Penobscot Restoration Project ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ASF's Andy Goode is quoted in this article on the celebration in Howland, ME to mark the completion of the Fish Bypass. http://asf.ca/final-piec-e-complete-in-16-year-penobscot-project.html Putting Habitat Back in Canada's Fisheries Act ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is a narrow window of opportunity to have Habitat Protection returned to Canada's Fisheries Act. Read more, and consider Petition. http://asf.ca/putting-habitat-back-in-canada-s-fisheries-act.html In NL, Concerns of a Flawed Salmon Count on Harry's River ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SPAWN is raising a red flag on the way Atlantic salmon are being counted on Harry's River, an important salmon run in western Newfoundland. http://asf.ca/spawn-believes-harry-s-river-count-flawed.html

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