In the news!

Check out Unlocking the Severn’s news features

Unlocking the Severn in the news

The scale, ambition and achievements of the Unlocking the Severn project has gained the interest of the media on many occasions. We are thrilled to have heard the story of the shad told on TV, in newspapers and magazines, and even on podcasts!

News features were a great way for us to share updates throughout the building of the fish passes, provide more information about the incredible scientific monitoring studies done during the project, and invite people to come and visit our amazing visitor sites at Diglis Island & Fish Pass. However, perhaps most crucially, they allowed us to bring the underwater world of the River Severn to the surface, educate people about the importance of our longest river and its wildlife, and share the successes of a huge conservation story with lots of people.

You can read some of our news highlights, and watch some of our TV features below.

News articles

New Scientist, Sept 2023 – How the Unlocking the Severn project is helping rare fish return to breed

The Guardian, Aug 2023 – Unlocking a river: rare silver fish returns to its ancient spawning grounds

Worcester News, May 2023 – Diglis Fish Pass welcomes returning Twaite Shad into River Severn

BBC News, May 2023 – Return of endangered twaite shad to spawning grounds celebrated

BBC News, Apr 2023 – Worcestershire fish pass welcomes back visitors

BBC News, Nov 2022 – Rare twaite shad at River Severn spawning ground after 180 years

The Guardian, Nov 2022 – Fish passes give endangered twaite shad chance to swim up Severn River and spawn

How the Unlocking the Severn project is helping fish return to breed - New Scientist

Find out more about how we have tracked the migration of shad, and other scientific monitoring achievements, in this film from New Scientist.

BBC Midlands Today, Unlocking the Severn - season finale!

The early Victorians installed weirs all along the River Severn to allow boats to use the river. But those weirs also cut fish off from their spawning grounds, causing an ecological disaster as fish populations collapsed. Nearly two hundred years later, the fish are staging a comeback with a bit of help . Here's Environment Correspondent David Gregory-Kumar.

BBC Midlands Today - Unlocking the Severn. Listening for shad spawning.

It’s the multimillion plan to help save some of our most endangered fish. The unlocking the Severn project includes major construction work, building fish passes and partially removing weirs. The aim is to remove man made obstacles to migrating fish. But a vital part of the work is carried out by an army of volunteers… counting the actual fish as they migrate up the Severn. And, after a year off thanks to the pandemic, right now they’re assembling for the annual count of the twaite shad heading upstream to spawn. Here’s environment correspondent David Gregory-Kumar

BBC Midlands Today - Bringing back the shad, forgotten herring of the Severn

27 Jun 2017: A multi-million pound project is underway to "unlock" the River Severn and help traditional migratory fish move up and down the river in a way that just isn't possible at the moment. It will benefit famous fish like salmon and elvers but the poster fish for the project is the less familiar shad