Fish can now move freely up the River Lemon following the recent removal of a weir that had been blocking access to upstream spawning grounds.

The removal of the deteriorating Chipley Mill Weir will mean that salmon and other migrating fish will be able to access critical spawning grounds further upstream on Dartmoor.

The weir removal will also enhance water quality by supporting the natural movement of sediment.

The removal of the weir was funded by the Open Rivers Programme. It was part of a wider initiative, known as the Lemon Partnership Project to Improve Passage (Lemon PPIP), to improve fish migration and biodiversity in the River Teign Catchment. Lemon PPIP is a collaboration between the Environment Agency, Westcountry Rivers Trust, and the National Trust.

Chipley Mill Weir was one of two key barriers that had been identified as contributing to the River Lemon’s poor fish status under the Water Framework Directive.

‘This weir removal represents a significant step forward the strategic, catchment-wide approach to restore salmon numbers,’ a spokesperson from the Westcountry Rivers Trust said. ‘It builds on previous fish passage work at Bickington and complements broader efforts to restore river health across the Teign catchment which now sees an impressive 30km of upstream habitat accessible to migratory fish.’

According to Westcountry Rivers Trust monitoring data, salmon have been successfully spawning in the lower reaches of the River Lemon, just upstream of Newton Abbot. However, they hadn’t been recorded upstream of Bradley Manor Weir since 2010. The data also showed that numerous brown trout, European eel and European bullhead were stuck in the upper catchment because they were constrained by artificial barriers.

The Westcountry Rivers Trust now plans to focus on ongoing monitoring of the river’s health and fish populations and improving fish migration and connectivity across the rest of the river, particularly in the area of Bradley Manor Weir.