A group of well-known figures from wide-ranging backgrounds is putting its weight behind the battle to conserve Britain’s wild brown trout – a key indicator of the health of Britain’s rivers and lakes and a fish that is under pressure on many fronts.

The Wild Trout Trust (WTT), a charity founded to conserve this iconic species, today announces the following new appointments:

President Brian Clarke, author and conservationist

Vice-Presidents Professor David Bellamy, Gareth Edwards, Jeremy Paxman, Rt. Hon. Lord (David) Steel of Aikwood

The above are joined as Vice-Presidents by:
Jon Beer, Oliver Edwards, Dr Malcolm Greenhalgh, Peter O’Reilly and Pat O'Reilly – all writers and naturalists

The aim of the appointments is to help widen the reach of an already highly-effective body which, in protecting the trout’s habitat, is also benefiting a host of other fish, insects, birds and small mammals that live in rivers and lakes and in the countryside around them.

The brown trout, Salmo trutta, is Britain’s only native trout species and once was one of our most widely-distributed fish. Today, the brown trout no longer exists in many of its former strongholds and it is struggling to breed naturally in many others.

Salmo trutta’s problem is that, unlike many freshwater species, it needs clean gravels to spawn in and cool, unpolluted, well-oxygenated water in which to thrive. Where once heavy industry was the major problem, the brown trout today is under pressure by stealth.

Insecticides and herbicides used in intensive farming seep into waterways, killing the plant and insect life on which the brown trout depends. Fertilisers used to promote crop growth can produce choking growths of algae when they leach into rivers and lakes. Abstraction, which lowers water levels, physically reduces living space and concentrates toxins. Rainwater run-off carries sediments into rivers, clogging gravels and suffocating eggs.

The Wild Trout Trust advises fishery and riparian owners on how some of these – and other – problems, can be alleviated. Where necessary, it will part-fund remedial work both in the water and on the bank. The Trust also commissions research in its own right – from fish distribution studies to genetic research into particularly interesting or vulnerable populations.

The WTT, which is funded by subscriptions, donations, legacies and sponsorships, has been involved in over 70 fishery projects in the last three years alone – from the small streams of Dartmoor to the great highland lochs.

Jeremy Paxman said “Wild trout are a perfect measure of the health of our countryside. They will live and breed only in clean, well-aerated water and so if they flourish, our rivers are flourishing. If we promote the wild trout, we promote a healthy environment.”

David Bellamy said “The wild brown trout is among my favourite animals. I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with the experts safeguarding this truly wonderful fish and its habitat.”

Welcoming the new appointments, Richard Slocock, chairman of the Wild Trout Trust, said “I am delighted that so many well-known figures are putting their weight behind this cause.

“There is a real irony in the fact that wild brown trout are now returning to the River Wandle in the heart of London – once one of our most heavily polluted rivers. Just as this kind of obvious pollution is on the wane, rivers even in the most remote places and once thought safe from man, are coming under pressure invisibly, by chemical stealth. They may look clean to the eye, but they can be toxic.”

February 2004