My research led me to The Trent Rivers Trust and from their to your club, which conducted an excellent piece of comparative research into the suitability of both rivers for the reintroduction of salmon in 1986.

This in turn led me to begin my quest for more up-to-date information.

This quest has already prompted interesting debate amongst fishers. Salmon have been missing from The Derwent for so long that they may not seem to be a native species. We may fear an impact on current species in the river and on the price of fishing rights in the future if salmon return successfully. Interesting debates in themselves.

My starting point is a simple and perhaps naive one. The Derwent was an important salmon nursery, possibly for many millennia, until industrialists created unnatural obstacles to their progress upstream. If the hand of man had such a catastrophic impact on their ability to breed in such a very short period of time, it might only be the hand of man that can restore it.
I therefore see it as a duty to do whatever we can to make the river navigable for migratory species.

I would be glad to hear from any of your members who might be able to bring me up-to-date on events. I can then pass on this information to other members in my own club who are taking an interest.Please contact me, Steve Dalton by email