{"id":834,"date":"2020-09-02T14:58:52","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T13:58:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/festivalofthemind.sheffield.ac.uk\/2020\/?post_type=exhibit2&p=834"},"modified":"2021-07-09T17:45:10","modified_gmt":"2021-07-09T16:45:10","slug":"salmon-of-steel","status":"publish","type":"exhibit2","link":"https:\/\/festivalofthemind.sheffield.ac.uk\/2020\/protopia\/salmon-of-steel\/","title":{"rendered":"Salmon of Steel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Local artists and conservation experts come together to celebrate the regeneration of the River Don and the return of the iconic Atlantic salmon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Highlights include the Salmon of Steel itself, a 7ft sculpture of a leaping salmon made by Scrap Metal Artist Jason Heppenstall; a beautiful trail map, illustrated by Sophie Carter; and a podcast in which invited speakers reveal the story of the river. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project grew out of an earlier collaboration<\/a> between the Don Catchment Rivers Trust and Dr Deborah Dawson, a conservation geneticist at the University, investigating the return of Atlantic salmon to Sheffield after an absence of 220 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sculpture<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

During the Industrial revolution large structures called weirs were built across the river. The weirs powered water mills which fuelled Sheffield’s early steel industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weirs still remain in the river today and block the migration routes of fish, including Salmon, preventing them from reaching their spawning grounds in Sheffield. Many organisations have been working together to provide fish passage solutions along the Don, bringing Salmon back to the Steel City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Salmon of Steel sculpture was commissioned to celebrate the return of Atlantic Salmon to Sheffield after over 220 years of absence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n