Salmon return to River Dearne after 150 years Published duration 26 June 2015

image copyright Don River Catchment Trust image caption Passes have been created at the River Don and Sprotbrough Weir to allow fish to swim upstream and reach spawning grounds

Salmon are back in the River Dearne in South Yorkshire for the first time in 150 years, the Environment Agency says.

Staff spotted a juvenile during a routine check after a "fish pass" opened last year at Sprotbrough Weir.

Salmon were last seen in the river in 1865 after weirs were built preventing fish reaching their spawning grounds.

The pass reconnects the rivers Don and Dearne back to the Humber Estuary. The agency said the river was the "healthiest in 20 years".

It has opened up 55km (34 miles) of the River Don and is part of a plan to create "fish highways" providing passage between the sea and upper reaches of rivers, the Environment Agency said.

Jerome Masters, from the agency, said: "The construction of the fish pass at Sprotbrough Weir is a significant step in getting salmon back to rivers across South Yorkshire.

"The River Don already supports a healthy population of coarse fish, and adult salmon have been caught in the river in the recent past, but the discovery of this juvenile salmon in the River Dearne is hugely exciting."

Fish and eel passes act like watery staircases allowing them to swim or wriggle their way over a weir.