THE future of one of Tynedale’s biggest tourist attractions has been secured for the foreseeable future.

The installation of the long-awaited new fish pass on the River Tyne below Hexham Bridge cost £500,000 – but free-spending Tynedale anglers will bring in much more than that.

And fears that the fish pass will put an end to the crowd-pulling spectacular of salmon and sea trout jumping the weir below the bridge each autumn have been dismissed by experts, who say that when conditions are right, the migratory fish will ignore the fish pass, and jump the way they have done from time immemorial.

The fish pass was a joint project involving the Tyne Rivers Trust, Northumberland County Council and the Environment Agency – and representatives of all three bodies were delighted to see fish ascending the structure on the day it was officially opened.

There is an existing fish pass within the river at Hexham, but it has become largely redundant because of the increasing difference of water levels above and below the bridge – a legacy of rapacious gravel extraction in the river many years ago.

Salmon and sea trout were experiencing increasing difficulty in ascending the river to lay their eggs in the spawning redds in the upper reaches of the Tyne system, to ensure their survival.

The fish pass took six months to build, but the half-million pound cost was met by the Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority as part of a compensation package for the impact on fishing and other activities caused by the construction of the second Tyne Tunnel four years ago.

The compensation was agreed by the Tyne Riparian Owners & Occupiers Association, but the work was carried out on behalf of the Tyne Rivers Trust by Northumberland County Council, as it was already carrying out permanent repair work on the concrete apron under the bridge after it was damaged by storms.

However, the work was overseen by the Tyne Rivers Trust, the guardians of the River Tyne, whose director Susan Mackirdy, said: “There has long been a challenging leap for migrating salmon and sea trout at Hexham Bridge; too challenging for many fish, especially in low water.

“While seeing the fish try to jump the weir is an exciting spectacle, a lot of leaps are unsuccessful and the fish can injure themselves by landing on the concrete.

“They also waste their energy in failed leaps, and are prone to disease while they wait for better flows, so they have less energy for spawning when they do eventually get upstream.

“The new fish pass gives migrating fish an alternative route bypassing the bridge footings to swim up two low-gradient channels to continue on their journey up the Tyne.”

The Environment Agency’s fisheries, biodiversity and geomorphology team leader Jonathan Shelley added: “Completion of this challenging project is really something to celebrate.

“As at the end of October, the fish counter at Riding Mill showed 2015 to be the third best year to date for migrating fish since recording began on the Tyne in 1996, so it is great news that fish moving beyond Hexham will be assisted by the new fish pass.”

The designs for the fish pass were developed by Hexham engineering firm, BT Bell.

Northumberland County Council’s cabinet member for local services, Coun. Ian Swithenbank, said: “The good partnership working between ourselves, Tyne Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency has ensured that the work, which is key for the future of fish passage along the Tyne, has been delivered on time.”

The county council also plans to develop an eel pass on the same site next year, providing better access for eels on their epic journey to the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic to spawn – a journey of nearly 4,000 miles.

This will form part of works to stabilise the river embankment adjacent to the bridge.

The opening of the fish pass is the peak of the Tyne Rivers Trust’s achievements since it was established in 2004, to protect and enhance the River Tyne and its tributaries.

The trust was created with £250,000 funding from the Tyne and Wear Integrated Transport Authority.

Within three years, the trust was applying for funding from other sources in order to expand its range and scope of work, and now the majority of its project funding comes from private charitable sources or from Government agencies for specific projects.

While the Hexham fish pass is the most ambitious project it has undertaken, the trust has been involved in numerous other projects around the district.

These include the restoration of a threatened footpath alongside the Stocksfield Burn, and the creation of a very natural looking artificial cataract, enabling salmon and sea trout to ascend a once sheer mill pond dam on the March Burn at Stocksfield.