Save the date : international colloquium “Des Saumons et des Hommes 3 ” 19-21 October 2023 – Brioude (France)
Ten years after the last meeting, SOS Loire Vivante – ERN is organising a new conference on the Loire salmon. This is an opportunity to take stock of the situation of the Atlantic salmon in the Loire and elsewhere. National and international experts will try to understand the reasons for the decline despite restoration efforts and whether our actions are still in line with current and future challenges.
Is it due to climate change or to phenomena at sea or in the river? During the health check and the presentation of the results of restoration actions, we will compare the case of the Loire with other highly migratory river basins such as the Rhine, the Elbe, the Adour, the Garonne, the Sélune, etc,
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Rhine River : Fish passes in Rhinau and Marckolsheim: the work has really entered the active phase
Officially launched on 8 October 2021 by Mrs. Bérangère Abba, Secretary of State to the Minister of Ecological Transition, in charge of Biodiversity, the first shovels began to be dug in Rhinau and Marckolsheim this autumn 2022.
A great technical challenge awaits EDF. These fish passes will be the largest ever built in France and in Europe. The work will be carried out simultaneously on both sites, with commissioning scheduled for 2025 for Rhinau and 2026 for Marckolsheim. This is a great step forward and in line with the timetable announced at the last conference of ministers in Amsterdam in February 2020.
But a bigger challenge still awaits EDF on the Rhine: solving and developing the Vogelgrün dam, the last real obstacle before Basel. In this context the Salmon Comeback coalition will again ask the ICPR to set up an interdisciplinary working group dedicated to Vogelgrün in order to study additional alternative solutions to those studied in the past, which proved to be extremely complex and expensive.
More information and video presentation of the project: : https://www.edf.fr/hydraulique-alsace-vosges/passes-a-poissons-rhinau-marckolsheim/le-projet-en-bref.
Rhinau works © EDF
Joint meeting of maritime and water directors: LRE calls for a commitment to raise ambitions for river restoration
Ahead of the joint meeting of maritime and water directors on 29 November 2022, the Living Rivers Europe coalition is sending a letter to the water directors asking them to engage in the Council deliberations on the European Commission proposal for the Nature Restoration Law to:
● Raise the barrier removal target to 15% of EU river length (178,000 km) restored to a free-flowing state by 2030 and make it legally binding;
● Remove the highlight given to exemptions to the Water Framework Directive objectives and TEN-T regulation to ensure proper implementation;
● Prioritise barrier removals according to the ecological potential of the removal, in particular the connectivity between marine and freshwater ecosystems;
● Increase the intermediary percentage targets laid out in Article 4 for the restoration and re-establishment of areas and the restoration of habitats of species, and shorten the timeline for reaching 100%, as this article also covers some freshwater ecosystems and those restoration actions would also complement the action on river connectivity;
● Recognise the need to expand the EU financing support available for free-flowing river restoration in addition to the sources identified in the EU Guidance on barrier removal for river restoration, for example, through the establishment of dedicated funding for nature restoration, pursuant to the mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework.
Around exemptions from the WFD objectives :
● Make full use of the measures provided by the Water Framework Directive and other EU rules to bring Europe’s waters to good status as soon as possible and by 2027 the latest
● Do proper cost benefit analysis before applying exemptions and include long-term costs such as costs related to climate change in the decision-making
● Do proper economic analysis and put in place economic instruments for cost recovery for the coal sector, including mine drainage fees and adequate fees for cooling water abstraction that account for the external costs of operation. Earmark the revenues for restoration measures.
Sélune River / France : The salmon is back !
France / Sélune River : Only 4 weeks after the demolition of the Roche qui boit dam and 2 years after Vezin’s demolition, a first salmon was already electronically located upstream of the construction sites !
World Fish Migration Day – Exceptional visit of the “New Poutès” in France
On the occasion of the World Migratory Fish Day, of which ERN is an official partner, SOS Loire Vivante organizes in cooperation with EDF two guided tours of the “Nouveau Poutès” dam.
Indeed, in the Haut Allier, the works at the Poutès dam are now completed! Since the end of 2021, the dam is reconfigured to allow the free circulation of the last wild salmon populations during 3 months per year while maintaining about 85% of the hydroelectricity production.
To know MORE about the World Migratory Fish Day
Become aware of the relationship between humans and fish
Freshwater fish are the emblems of living rivers, indicators of good quality of the environment and vector of the development of sustainable activities on the territories. 15,000 species of freshwater fish and more particularly the 1,100 species of migratory fish are in danger. They no longer travel freely because of the numerous developments carried out on our rivers over the last few centuries (dams, weirs, etc.). To accomplish their migration, which is essential for their complete life cycle, they are now dependent on our policies and our commitments to restore and protect our rivers.More info on https://worldfishmigrationday.com/ but also Twitter, Facebook, Insta
May 21, 2022 is World Migratory Fish Day !
May 21, 2022 is World Migratory Fish Day !
Organized every two years by the World Fish Migration Foundation, this day honors free-flowing rivers and migratory fish, which are often threatened. This day, many organizations around the world organize events on the theme “Reconnecting fish, rivers and people”. Already 95 events open to the public are registered, and it is not over.
> Any association or individual can get involved and register an event.
Organize an event
> Take part in the actions organized by SOS Loire Vivante / ERN:
Virtual visit of the “New Poutès” dam completely reconfigured for salmon migration.
The location of the dam on the upper Allier river is of crucial importance: it determines the access of the salmon to the best spawning areas for the Loire-Allier strain of salmon, a unique strain able to migrate over long distances!
SOS Loire Vivante / ERN will organize a visit to the “new Poutès” dam and will record the visit and conduct interviews on site.
Other actions are being organized by SOS Loire Vivante.
Loire salmon: The coup de grace in Vichy?
While considerable efforts have been made by the State, local authorities, associations and citizens to safeguard the species, the Prefect of the Allier has just authorized the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the Vichy dam, definitively condemning the possibilities of the re-conquest of the ALLIER by the salmon and directly threatening its survival.
This irresponsible and fatal project must be stopped.
A group of 10 national and local associations, including SOS Loire Vivante, has signed an appeal to the Prefect of the Allier. They are considering legal action, both national and European, to stop this deleterious project and replace it with an environmentally responsible solution.
> Read the press release of the associations (french only)
>> See the appeal (french only)
Hydropower in Europe : Transformation – not development (WWF Report)
European rivers are the most fragmented in the world, contributing to the rapid decline in freshwater biodiversity.
As a result, a drastic transformation of the hydropower sector is urgently needed to reduce its environmental
impact. This can be achieved through several steps: the first one is to stop building new hydropower plants which worsen the fragmentation of rivers and lead to the loss of precious habitats and species.
The second step is to lessen the environmental impact of existing plants through plant environmental refurbishment. From ecological flows to acquiring knowledge on fish migration patterns, hydropower plants can be adapted and managed in a more nature- sensitive manner, as illustrated by a case study on the Allier River in the Loire Valley, France.
The third step is the restoration of the rivers’ natural functions,
in particular continuity and habitats. The case study on the construction of a reproduction channel next to the Imatra hydropower plant in Finland, illustrates active restoration measures that should be taken to complement mitigation measures at the plant itself.
download the WWF Report : https://www.wwf.eu/what_we_do/water/?uNewsID=2329866
Documentary “Salmons and Men”
Photo : Saumon atlantique dans la rivière Allier. • © Stéphane Granzotto
Directed by Stéphane Granzotto, this film was broadcast on France 3 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in November 2020.
This documentary is about the Atlantic Salmon (Loire Allier strain), and focuses on the journey of the species on the Allier River, a tributary of the Loire River (France). Among the obstacles presented, the Vichy dam or the Poutès dam and its redevelopment in favor of the migration of the Salmon.
Film again available in full on vimeo : To be seen here
Contact
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ERN is the official WWF Freshwater Partner in France and cooperates with WWF Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands and others
