The Clyde River

The Clyde River

Running through one of Britain's biggest manufacturing centers, Glasgow, the Clyde River* was poisoned for more than a century by the fetid byproducts of industry.

The waterway bore the brunt of (首当其冲)Glasgow's economic success during the Industrial Revolution and beyond, as pollution and chemicals destroyed its fish and wildlife populations and brewed smells whose memory still makes residents wince*. Now, with heavy industry gone and Glasgow reconceived as a center for culture and tourism, the Clyde is coming back to life.

For the first time since the late 1800s, its native salmon have returned in sizable numbers, reflecting the new cleanliness of a river that was once one of Britain's filthiest.

The Clyde River Foundation surveyed fish populations last autumn at 69 sites in the Clyde and its tributaries, and found salmon in seven of the nine major tributaries.

The migratory fish, which vanished from the Clyde around 1880 after a long decline, first reappeared in the 1980s, but last year's survey was the first to show they've come back in healthy numbers.

Although commercial salmon fishing was never widespread on the Clyde, the fish's return is symbolically important for Glasgow, where salmon were once so important to the city's identity that two are pictured on its official coat of arms.

The salmon's comeback is also a sign of big improvements to water quality. Like sea trout, which have also reappeared in the Clyde system in recent years, salmon are very sensitive to environmental conditions and require cool, well-oxygenated water to thrive.

The decline of Glasgow's main industries helped boost the fortunes of a river that was essentially fishless for decades during the worst periods of pollution.

The closure of factories that had poured toxins* and other pollutants into the river boosted water quality significantly. Environmental regulators also lightened dumping rules, and modern sewage processing plants helped eliminate some of the foul* smells that once tainted* the air.

With worries rising about the environmental impact of enormous fish farms elsewhere in Scotland and severely depleted fish stocks in the North Sea and North Atlantic, the Clyde comeback is a rare bit of good news for Scotland's fish lovers.

Since the area that is now Glasgow was first settled around the year 550, the Clyde has been central to its history. 

The river's depth and navigability helped make Glasgow an important center for importing tobacco, sugar and cotton from the Americas starting in the 1600s. Later, during the Industrial Revolution that began in the late 1700s, Glasgow became a center of British shipbuilding and one of the country's great manufacturing centers.

The mills and factories that lined the Clyde made steel, textiles and chemicals, tanned leather and even produced candy and brewed alcohol.

When the factories began to close in the second half of the 20th century, working-class Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, gained a reputation for social deprivation and rough streets. More recently, its art museums and nightlife have helped drive an economic comeback that has turned the city into a popular tourist destination.