Saturday 21/04/18 is World Fish Migration day, held to celebrate the efforts that people have made to improve fish migration and riverine habitats for fish.
This year we would like to celebrate our contribution where, through collaboration with the Environment Agency and the University of Southampton, a new cost-effective fish pass prototype has been built and trialled. The success of this fish pass will allow for improvements in fish passage of both salmonids and non-salmonid species (such as Chub and Eel) over hundreds of triangular gauging weirs throughout the UK.
Back in 2017, Widdops were approached by the Environmental Agency to produce a revolutionary new cost-effective fish pass brush, developed by PhD researcher Daniella Montali-Ashworth at the University of Southampton. These unique fish pass brush pads, comprised of a staggered array of cylindrical bristle clusters, create a unique hydrodynamic environment where fish passage is still improved without compromising the hydrometric properties of the weir, as low velocity areas form downstream of the cylinders which fish can utilise to pass over weirs.