Ambitious project to improve Wigan river for fish

Opening Up The River Douglas is a multi-year scheme led by the Ribble Rivers Trust to install fish passes along the length of the river, including at several points in Wigan.

This will make it much easier for fish which migrate from the sea to freshwater to lay their eggs to choose the Douglas, something wildlife experts say is very important as many species are currently under threat.

The project could even encourage species such as salmon to make a comeback to Wigan.

Mike Forty, the head of river conservation at the Ribble Rivers Trust, said: “This project is about improving fish passage along the Douglas from the estuary all the way up to the headwaters.

“There are currently a lot of man-made structures on the Douglas and that is especially problematic for migratory species which move between freshwater spawning habitats and the sea.

“The Douglas should be able to support sea trout and also salmon. They are known to go into the Douglas at its lower end.

“Salmon returning would be fantastic. It would be at least 150 years since they were there.

“Salmon populations aren’t doing fantastic, they’ve got a lot of problems with climate change and pollution, so it’s really important to provide as much habitat as possible for them to spawn.

“Our freshwaters have a lot of pressure on them, so this is really important work protecting the life cycles of these fish.”

The Douglas is currently lined with obstructions to wildlife passing freely along it due to the area’s legacy of heavy industry.

The flow of the river is obstructed by leets and ponds from old mills, weirs and other man-made objects.

Mr Forty says the work is being done in such a way that the industrial heritage of the area is preserved and fish passes have also been chosen as every structure in the project still has a direct purpose such as providing structural integrity for walls.

There is plenty of scope for improvement. The stretch of the Douglas running through Wigan is classified as Bad for fish populations by the Environment Agency and nowhere along the river’s length has a rating better than Moderate.

That fails to achieve the standard which should be aimed for under the Water Framework Directive.

Fish passes come in all shapes and sizes but are placed on or by a barrier to allow fish to carry on swimming.

The Douglas project involves rocks and boulders embedded into a channel to create the right flow conditions.

Work got under way last year outside the borough and this year fish passes have been installed at Worthington Lakes and at a site downstream close to Red Rock Lane.

Next year further changes will be made at a sluice weir in Scholes, at a site close to Pottery Terrace and at Gathurst.

The project requires partnership working between a number of different organisations and landowners, including Wigan Council, the Canal and River Trust and United Utilities who own the compound where the Worthington Lakes fish pass is located.

A group of organisations have also been working together on the project as the Douglas Catchment Partnership, including environmental regeneration charity Groundwork who are the delivery partners.

Mr Forty says that while fish are key species for the project the work should have lots of knock-on benefits for mammals such as otters and fish-eating birds.

He also hopes that increased numbers of fish in the water will draw interest from anglers and that will help to drum up wider public support for the scheme.

Getting Wiganers interested in the health of the river and wanting to make their local area the best it can be for nature is a very important part of the project.

Mr Forty said: “One of our main aims is to get people in the catchment area to be more aware of the river.

“We’re hoping more people will take notice and more people will become involved in doing work on the river.

“Improving the value of the blue space for people is really important to us.”

The project also helps stretches of the Douglas outside of Wigan, with work being done already further upstream at Adlington.

The scheme’s funding is coming from Groundwork and the Government through the European Regional Development Fund.

To find out more about the project, visit ribbletrust.org.uk/our-douglas-project/

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