Sponsored by
Salmon fishing ‘harmed by hydro scheme’
The Founding Directors of Settle Hydro are Steve Amphlett and Ann Harding
One of the most prized wild salmon rivers in the north of England may be under threat from a new hydro-electric power plant because it is sited downstream of salmon spawning grounds.
The Environment Agency has launched an investigation following reports by anglers that salmon catches have fallen dramatically since the plant on the River Ribble at Settle was opened two years ago. At nearby Stainforth Foss – which in the past has been featured on TV for its spectacular views of leaping salmon – many tourists have been disappointed to discover there are no salmon to be seen.
When the £410,000 community-owned hydro plant was built it was sited directly alongside a concrete salmon pass which should allow migrating fish to swim upstream to their spawning grounds.
But John Breckon, bailiff for a local angling consortium, said many salmon no longer used the pass because they were frightened away.
“When you stand next to the plant you can feel the vibration through your feet,” he said.
“The noise is tremendous, sound travels underwater and it’s frightening the fish back downstream.
“On occasions when the generator shuts down one or two salmon will get through but by that time most of them have gone.”
Mr Breckon said since the plant was built average annual catches on his consortium’s one-mile stretch of river had fallen from 17 to two.
“Our fishing has been absolutely devastated. I’ve got records going back 27 years and we’ve had two of the worst seasons ever known,” he said.
The generator is a reverse Archimedes Screw type, based on a 1,800-year-old design by the Ancient Greek mathematician. It generates 50kw of electricity – enough to power 50 homes – and it has won awards as a community-led green energy project. It is operated by the community group Settle Hydro Ltd, which sells excess power to the National Grid and uses the proceeds for local projects.
Mr Breckon has sent video evidence on salmon movements over the past two years to the Environment Agency. He said he had raised the issue of salmon migration when the generating plant was under construction.
“I personally went down there several times to speak to the people building the screw and to Environment Agency officials to express my concerns because I could see what was going to happen,” he said.
“But they assured me on every occasion it wouldn’t affect fish running at all.”
David Hinks, chairman of the Ribble Fisheries Consultative Association, said data from an automated counting device just upstream of Settle confirmed that the number of salmon migrating upstream had fallen sharply.
“It’s difficult to prove cause and effect but it’s a bit of a coincidence that this has happened since the hydro plant began operating,” he said.
Mr Hinks, who represents landowners and more than 20 angling clubs on the Ribble, said in theory Archimedes Screws were more fish-friendly than more conventional types of generators. But he said, apart from the issue of noise and vibration, there was also evidence that Settle Hydro had been taking too much water from the river flow for their generator. He said this, in turn, could leave insufficient water in the fish pass – a series of small pools designed to allow the salmon to bypass man-made obstacles.
Organisation investigated
The Environment Agency confirmed Settle Hydro has breached the terms of licence conditions on the amount of water taken from the river 238 times and an investigation was under way.
“We are looking at data from a number of sources, including information from local anglers, to see whether the presence of the scheme could be preventing fish from migrating upstream to spawn,” said a spokeswoman.
Settle Hydro director Ann Harding said they were working closely with the Environment Agency and went to great lengths to ensure any impact on the ecology was minimised.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Leeds lose Ward to Palace: Is there anyone they can afford now?
- Sheffield Wednesday leaving it late to hijack Leeds United over Ward
- As Snodgrass dithers over Leeds, Warnock throws a lifeline
- Ball is in Leeds United’s court over contract - Snodgrass
- Police turning blind eye to Asian voter fraud, says MP
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
wilbert
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 09:02 PMI would like to say that these low head hydro schemes are a joke but there is nothing funny about them. They are nothing short of government subsidised environmental vandalism. The cost to the river environment is not worth the tiny amount of electricity that is generated and that is before we take in to account the carbon footprint created during the manufacturing process and the ridiculous amounts of taxpayers money that get used to pay hugely inflated prices for the generated electricity. The unfortunate people that have been duped into buying shares in these schemes will never see a return on their investment and will probably never see their original investment again. The only ones to benefit from these schemes are the developers who like cowboy builders will take their money and run for the hills. The people of Settle and anywhere else these no brain schemes are planned would be better off saving electricity by turning off lights and TV’s etc when not in use rather than trying to make more than we need under the false green banner. I can’t believe that Settle Hydro have breached the conditions of their licence 238 times and are still in operation. To the powers that be, make them confirm or shut them down!!!
SP8
Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at 04:57 PMLow-head hydro schemes are without doubt the biggest threat our rivers have faced for many years. Don't be fooled, they are not "green". They produce so little electricity that they will never offset the carbon footprint of manufacturing and installing them. The one featured at Settle has produced far less than was planned and the damage it has caused to migrating fish is becoming plain to see. There are hundreds of these schemes in the pipeline nationally and in most cases they are completely unsuitable. In Sweden where they have been in place for up to 40 years they are being removed as properly conducted studies have shown the damage they are doing. In this country it appears we will just poor taxpayers money into the pockets of private companies to destroy all the hard work done to restore our rivers to their pre-industrial state. We do need renewable energy but not at the expense of the environment.
Jayzs
Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 10:23 PMI can see that the low frequency throb could not only scare migrating salmon, but also the resident coarse fish and trout near the installation. I would suggest that the hydro schemes are forced to shut down during the migratory and spawning periods for both coarse and migratory fish. These hydro schems are proliferating, and are the aquatic equivalent of solar panels, in that every kilowatt hour generated costs the taxpayer dear in subsidies. And of course he has to pay for that power again when it is fed into his toaster. Sutting down theinstallations for these periods would actually benefit the taxpayer. Our salmon, other fish and wildlife are far more important that these crazy expensive schemes, which generate piddling amounts of power. Most of these schemes are in fact conning the public. The real reason for their construction is that the hydro company has blinded the public into paying for them. They will never get their money back. Only the hydro company doing the build will profit. Crazy idea. Such small scale hydros should be banned unless they are both green AND cost effective. With damage to wildlife and encompassing huge subsidies, they are neither.
Page 1 of 1
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.