Quarry's bid to boost fish stocks

Weirs prevent the fish from getting upstream to spawn

Salmon and trout stocks in a Cumbrian river will be boosted by a £250,000 handout from a quarry company.

Hanson, which runs the Shap pink granite quarry near the River Leith, a tributary of the Eden, is giving the cash to improve the local environment.

The money will be used by the Rivers Trust to create fish passes so migrating fish can make their way up river to spawn.

Work will also be done on protecting the banks from agricultural stock.

Alistair Maltby, director of the Eden Rivers Trust, said it had not been a good river for trout and salmon.

'Ideal vegetation'

"One of the most basic problems is access," he said. "There are lots of little weirs and a rather larger one further down, so part of the money will be used to make these accessible to fish, by building fish passes.

"If they can't get to the spawning ground they can't spawn, it's as simple as that."