Thanks to Claire for this latest update. Ed
A recent electrofishing survey carried out by the Environment Agency on behalf of the Newport Rivers Group and Natural Enterprise has shown that locally scarce wild brown trout are making the most of the newly created natural riverbeds and banks installed within a sterile concrete river channel at Shide.
Excellent juvenile brown trout territory
Dominic Longley, Environmental Monitoring Officer at the Environment Agency, was pleased to report:
“The electrofishing result was quite remarkable: 32 wild brown trout were caught, all young of the year and large in size, as well as eels, dace, bullhead, stone loach & a lone stickleback.
“The combination of cover provided by the vegetation planted with the very varied water velocity caused by meandering rock rolls and oak sleepers installed has produced excellent juvenile brown trout territory here.”
And fish aren’t the only species of wildlife to be found making the most of this once empty channel. Evidence shows that water voles, another nationally scarce British river species, are also visiting, snacking on the larder of wetland plants now flourishing there.
Two year project
Natural Enterprise, along with partners the Environment Agency and with the help of specialists Aquascience Ltd (WLW Ltd), completed the two year project of river restoration in August, funded by the SITA Trust’s Enhancing Nature Programme with contributions from the EA, Isle of Wight Council and Newport Parish Council.
Claire Hector, the project manager, explains:
“The principle aim of the project was to support our dwindling wild brown trout and eel populations by creating and enhancing river habitat in specific sites along the Medina from Newport to Blackwater.
“A tree-coppicing programme has helped to bring light back to sections of this stretch, while within the river itself, tackling the canalisation with bank enhancements and variations in water flow has been essential to return a more naturalised and fish-friendly state. We are all delighted with the results of the EA’s survey which shows that small local interventions and a ‘natural’ approach can pay massive dividends for wildlife!
“The success of Aquascience’s design at Shide channel is very significant as, as Dominic Longley suggests, it provides a potential model for mitigating concrete river channels anywhere in the country, proving that we can help to bring life back to even the most unpromising and sterile of environments.”
Next phase of project
The Medina is soon to benefit from a second exciting phase of restoration. As part of their work towards the Water Framework Directive, the Environment Agency will be exploring ways to help eels and trout negotiate the many weirs along this section of river. Built in reaction to the floods of 1960, these structures can be an impossible barrier to fish seeking to migrate upriver.
Ian Boyd of Natural Enterprise said:
“Natural Enterprise, on the behalf of the Newport Rivers Group, would like to thank SITA Trust, the Environment Agency, Aquascience and all the partners, local residents and landowners who have helped throughout the project.
“A very special thanks must go to the amazing conservation volunteers from the Green Gym and the Green Army whose efforts have made such a difference and who continue to help us manage and improve our riverside land.
“Anyone wishing to get close to an eel might like to visit the new sculpture at Pan Mill Meadows, a specially commissioned artwork produced by Eccleston George to celebrate this fantastic project.”
Image: © Used with permission of Julian Winslow
