In Winter 2023 our volunteers set off to build a picture of how pollution entered the River Aire in Bradford and Craven. Their findings, available here, gave us cause for grave concern.
We now want to look at the state of the river and becks in the Upper Aire - essentially Skipton and upwards.
So, for Winter 2024 we are launching a new Citizen Science survey for volunteers to walk over the becks of the River Aire in and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Looking for and photographing human adaptions to the river and fish breeding habitat with their smart phones.
All with the aim of producing a map of the key barriers and priority habitats affecting the return of Salmon and other long-range migratory fish to the headwaters of the River Aire.
Volunteers need no previous experience of river surveying as full training will be provided - all you need is enthusiasm, walking boots and a mobile phone to which you can download our app.
Salmon have been absent from the upper River Aire for the last 300 years. The industrial and agricultural revolutions saw significant changes to our rivers that made them inaccessible and less suitable for fish reproduction.
The Industrial Revolution saw weirs and culverts block and hide our rivers. Industrial pollutants made the water toxic. Rivers have been straightened to help drain agricultural land and riverbanks were walled to prevent soil erosion. Fallen trees are removed from the river to reduce flood risk. All contributing to a river that is stripped of life-giving fine gravels that should form the breeding habitat for migratory fish and the insects their young feed on.
Watch this video produced by our friends at the Wild Trout Trust highlighting the problems faced by rivers in the upper Aire.
Our Salmon Safari aims to recruit volunteers to walk sections of the River Aire above Skipton in the Yorkshire Dales during Winter 2024. Participants will use their smartphone to photograph and record human alterations to the river and existing fish breeding habitat. We will include features such as:
We aim to have a clear open-source map of what fish passage, or other, work we need to undertake in the Upper Aire. This will build on our successful Developing the Natural Aire Project which constructed 4 large fish passes between Leeds and Saltaire, re-opening a potential 60km of river to long-range fish migration. Giving fish the opportunity to reach as far up river as Bell Busk. The results gathered will help us assess where to prioritize fish passage work, to open even more river for fish migration.
Volunteers will need to “create an account” and search and sign up on our “opportunities calendar”, for the following event:
Upper Aire Salmon Safari, Saturday 9th November, The Hub, Skipton Town Hall, 10:00am-4pm.
For more information get in touch with our Citizen Science Officer: sam.riley-gunn@aireriverstrust.org.uk
You can explore the sort of things we will be looking for and how we process and publish the results by scrolling on the story map below, or clicking on this link to display the Story Map full screen:
