Lampreys are a prehistoric fish, lacking scales, jaws and a bony skeleton; they resemble eels and have a sucker-like mouth. Three species of lamprey occur in Britain, all of which are found in the Dee: the brook lamprey, river lamprey and sea lamprey. All three species are designated under the EU Habitats Directive as species requiring special conservation due to their vulnerability from habitat destruction and pollution.

The river and sea lamprey species share a similar behaviour with salmon, namely that they migrate from sea water to fresh water environments so that adults can breed in rivers. Thus, obstructions that prevent migration of salmon will also prevent migration of these lampreys.

With support from Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the River Dee Trust will collect information on the distribution of all three species on the mainstem Dee and its main tributaries, the factors that affect their distribution and how they can be responsibly managed. Electrofishing surveys will be carried out by the Trust’s biologists, starting in autumn 2007, to build a GIS map of where lampreys are found and what habitat they utilise, and to identify areas where habitat appears suitable for lampreys but where there are none present.