Celebrating World Fish Migration Day on the River Dee

To mark World Fish Migration Day on Saturday 21 May, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) Officers and staff from the LIFE Dee River project will be holding an open day at Chester weir fish monitoring trap on the River Dee.

World Fish Migration Day is marked every two years to highlight the importance of opening up rivers to help recover migratory fish populations and improve connectivity.

The event will allow the public to see how fish are monitored on the River Dee, the start of their journey upstream to spawn whilst also offering the opportunity to talk to NRW and LIFE Dee River project staff about their work. The event will start at 11am and finish at 2pm.

The public will get an opportunity to witness the important work NRW officers complete on a day-to-day basis to improve the river conditions for fish and other species. There will be a chance to see wild salmon and learn how they are tagged and monitored in the River Dee.

The Welsh Dee Trust and North Wales Wildlife Trust will also be there to talk about their conservation work to improve the habitat, water quality and help fish on their journey upstream in the tributaries of the River Dee.

Katrina Marshall, NRW Sustainable Fisheries Project Manager, said:

“We are proud to be opening up the Chester weir fish monitoring trap for the day to allow the public to witness first-hand the crucial work that goes on behind the scenes.

“Throughout the day we hope to raise awareness of the value and importance of migratory fish and free-flowing rivers, not only on the River Dee, but across the whole of Wales.

“Having colleagues from the LIFE Dee River project, Welsh Dee Trust and North Wales Wildlife Trust will provide the public with a number of options to discuss the importance of our work on River Dee.”

Joel Rees-Jones, LIFE Dee River Team Leader, said:

“Being part of World Fish Migration Day at Chester trap gives the LIFE Dee River project team the opportunity to let people know about the work the project is doing to improve access for salmon, sea lamprey and other species within the river Dee. 

“The event allows us to highlight the importance of barrier removal and habitat restoration, whilst also being able to demonstrate some of the monitoring techniques used as part of the project.”

LIFE Dee River is an EU-funded project to transform the River Dee and its catchment by restoring the river and its surroundings back to their natural state.

To find out more about World Fish Migration Day please visit https://www.worldfishmigrationday.com/.