Unlocking the Severn: 158 Miles Reopened for Migratory Fish

Severn Rivers Trust, working with Canal & River Trust, the Environment Agency and Natural England, delivered Unlocking the Severn, the UK's largest river-restoration project for fish, on England's longest river. Between 2016 and 2023 the project built four large fish passes on the River Severn and modified weirs on the River Teme, unlocking 158 miles of river habitat for migratory species. Environmental-DNA and camera monitoring in 2022 confirmed twaite shad successfully navigating all four passes, with 725 individuals recorded on camera reaching historic spawning grounds above Worcester for the first time since weirs blocked the river in the 1840s. The project also ran school visits, citizen-science monitoring and an international fisheries conference to share its restoration methods.