Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust constructs new eel pass at Rufford Mill to support the critically endangered migrating European Eels as part of The Three Rivers Restoration Project

Wriggling fish passing through our rivers have now been given a ‘helping hand’ thanks to the efforts of the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust.

A new eel pass has been constructed at Rufford Mill to support the critically endangered migrating European Eel, Anguilla anguilla, as part of The Three Rivers Restoration Project.

The project is a collaboration between the Trust and Severn Trent, which aims to deliver a programme of essential measures to improve the water environment in three rivers within the Idle Catchment — Rainworth Water, Vicar Water and the Bevercotes Beck — for which Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust are the Catchment Hosts.

The eel pass is located along Rainworth Water with support from landowner Nottinghamshire County Council and site operator Parkwood-Leisure, and includes a timber and concrete section with mounted pebbles in mortar screed running alongside the water from the weir.

It then runs parallel to an ‘up and over’ structure which uses polymer studs designed to help the eels ‘wriggle’ upwards to join the lake above the weir, which is fed by the river at the opposite side of the lake.

Eel passes are waterway modifications that help juvenile eels migrate upstream to freshwater habitats, designed to assist eels to navigate past these manmade obstructions within rivers.

Eel passes use the natural instincts of eels to seek out fresh water. They simulate wet vegetation and other substrates like river gravel that eels use for migration helping to restore eel populations in freshwater habitats.

This pass will help European eels, which are are born in the Sargasso Sea inside the Bermuda Triangle, to return to the UK and other European waters as larvae, carried on ocean currents on the North Atlantic Drift.

The eels then migrate into rivers as glass eels or elvers, and after 15 to 20 years, European eels migrate up to 10,000km on the return journey to complete their life cycle and spawning grounds.

These passes are constructed from a separate channel containing a substrate, such as bristles or polymer studs, that divert eels around or over the barrier.

Parkwood site manager Mark Cumberpatch said: “We’re delighted for visitors both fish and human to be able to benefit from this new feature on site at Rufford Abbey Country Park.

“Hosting the eel pass will certainly give our returning human visitors a new environmental feature to view and educate them about the eels’ plight and amazing lifecycle.”

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust Project Manager, Ian Higginson stated, “The introduction of this eel pass ensures the project delivers on a key aim to improve fish passage along this particular river.

“Supporting the migration of the eel is vital in assisting this endangered species to increase its population. Together with a further eel pass recently installed further upstream, the project has now opened up over 12km of the river for migrating eels.”

Nottinghamshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health, Councillor Scott Carlton, added: “I am delighted that we have played a part in supporting the installation of this eel pass at Rufford Mill weir. Hopefully its introduction will provide a real boost to eel numbers in the long-term, as well as bring wider benefits to the local water environment. I am sure the new feature will also prove highly beneficial and educational to the many people who visit Rufford to enjoy everything it has to offer.”