Restoration of the Salaca rapids has started

As part of the “Life is Salaca” project, the men of the association “Fishing Club “Salackrasti”” have started restoring the rapids of the Salaca.

The head of the association, Atis Apelis, stresses: “Clearing and restoring the Salaca rapids is the main task of “Salackrasti”. This year we are working upstream and downstream of Mērnieki. The work has been slightly delayed, as nature has made its own adjustments and the high water level did not allow us to start on 15 July as planned in the project. Now is the moment when we can get into the river with machinery and clear the bed of the Salaca. We will work until 15 September and hope to get all the planned work done.”

While clearing the beds of the Salaca rapids, habitats suitable for salmonid fish are restored by removing emergent vegetation and the root systems it forms. The work is done by a tracked excavator fitted with a special bucket to remove common club-rush and other emergent plants from the river, as well as the thick “turf” formed by their root systems. The bucket is designed so that as much as possible of the substrate typical of rapids (pebbles, stones and gravel) is left on the riverbed. The tracked excavator runs on biodegradable oils, ensuring that no polluting substances enter the Salaca during the work.

As a reminder, the Salaca is one of the main salmon rivers in the Baltic states and is also ranked among Latvia’s most important watercourses for the conservation of fish fauna. Unfortunately, many of the rapids on the Salaca are densely overgrown. When rapids become heavily overgrown with aquatic plants, the fish community in the river changes over time: the number of fish typical of fast-flowing, oxygen-rich rivers (salmon, minnows) declines, while the number of ecologically tolerant species (pike, chub, roach, perch) increases.

That is why rapids restoration measures are being carried out within the LIFE IS SALACA project, so that the Salaca can continue to boast the title of the main salmon river in the Baltic states.