Record fish count for Tyne (EA PR 18/8)

Environment Agency officers say 9,240 salmon and sea trout were counted in the river during July, the best total for the month since records began.

The news follows a prolonged spell of particularly hot and dry weather when low levels of oxygen in the river water meant there were concerns over the welfare of adult salmon and sea trout returning to spawn.

The Environment Agency has kept an eye on migratory fish numbers in the river since 1996, when a fish counter was installed at Riding Mill, approximately 11km upstream of the tidal limit at Wylam.

Scientists from the Environment Agency use data from the counter to monitor fish populations in the river and to make decisions about how best to manage them in the future. 

The equipment is funded by the Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority, as part of a monitoring agreement for the proposed new Tyne Tunnel project.

Phil Rippon, Fisheries Technical Specialist for the Environment Agency, said: “This year’s fish counts are very encouraging, especially in view of relatively poor runs of sea trout in recent years.

“We monitor rod catches of salmon and sea trout from rivers nationally, and the data shows the Tyne to be the best river in England and Wales.”

Fifty years ago very few salmon or sea trout were seen in the Tyne because the river was too polluted.

A survey as early as 1912 at the Quayside in Newcastle found that there was almost no oxygen in the Tyne. Surprisingly, fish catches continued at a low rate until after World War II - when zero catches were reported in 1951 and 1959.

Throughout the mid-1960s, salmon and sea trout rod catches started to recover. This is thought to have coincided with the closure of the ICI plant at Low Prudhoe, which was built in 1941 to produce ammonia for munitions and fertiliser.

More recently, the clean-up of the estuary has focussed on improving the amount of oxygen in the water, and Northumbrian Water and its predecessors have spent £150 million in building the Tyneside Interceptor Sewer and sewage treatment works at Howdon.

This year extra water has also been released from Kielder Reservoir on occasions, in an effort to encourage the fish further up river. This helps to improve oxygen levels in the water, which can be reduced during hot weather.

Releases of water from Kielder have been shown to help fish movement in the right conditions, but their use needs to be balanced against the natural flow and ecology of the river, safeguarding drinking water supplies and green energy requirements.

Phil Rippon added, “Data from our fish counter during the extra releases of water from Kielder Reservoir showed around 700 fish passed upstream during the first one, which began on 22 June, and 1,000 on the second release on 5 July.

“We are continuing to see record numbers of fish present in the Tyne during August and anglers are likely to benefit.”

Already this year almost 15,000 salmon and sea trout have been recorded migrating up river.

Anyone who wants to fish must have an Environment Agency rod licence and the permission of the land owners or membership of the appropriate angling club in order to do so legitimately.

Anglers are also reminded to fish responsibly and only take fish for their own use.