THOUSANDS of young Atlantic salmon have been introduced to the river Severn in a bid to replenish depleted numbers.

A total 126,000 fish have now been stocked into 10 rivers in the Severn catchment this year as part of the Severn Salmon Restoration Programme.

The work is part of an ongoing project to re-establish a sustainable population of Atlantic salmon to the area by the Environment Agency’s ecological appraisal and fisheries recreation team in conjunction with the biodiversity team.

The Agency said salmon levels have depleted for a number of reasons, including pollution, poor habitat or obstacles such as weirs that stop adult salmon returning from the sea to their historical spawning grounds.

Chris Bainger, ecological appraisal officer said: “Salmon stocks in England and Wales continue to be in a depleted state.

“We have worked very hard in the Severn catchment to reverse this trend. These restorative stocking programmes will kick start the population to parts of catchment where obstacles to salmon migration have been removed.

“We have a duty to help re-establish the salmon population for future generations to enjoy, this is part of our vision to create better fisheries for our nations.”

Over the next few weeks the cycle to produce salmon required for next year’s stocking programme will start again.