Fish Weirs of the River Severn

Abstract

AbstractFishing with traps and weirs on both tidal estuaries and inland rivers of Wales has already been discussed in this journal, and therefore it is appropriate to report on similar structures which once existed nearby along the middle reaches of the River Severn in England.Late nineteenth-century illustrations and descriptions of the last surviving weirs at Montford, Fitz, and Preston near Shrewsbury (Figs. 1, 2, 3) give some idea of the typical construction. Each consisted of a wattle fence, supported by timber braces and piles, running across the river to form one or more V-shaped funnels pointing downstream. At the apex of each funnel stood a ‘doorway’ about 1.25 m wide, across which was held a bag-like net, controlled from a catwalk above with long poles, designed to catch eels migrating downstream.