News

Update 24 June 2022

The guidance on Farming Rules for Water issued by Defra in March 2022 has been updated following a challenge by Salmon and Trout Conservation UK, who questioned the legality of the guidance. S&TC say: (the guidance) would have encouraged farmers unlawfully to apply slurries and manures to their land, in excess of the needs of the soil or crops on that land. Such excessive application is prohibited under The Reduction and Prevention of Agricultural Diffuse Pollution (England) Regulations 2018, otherwise known as the Farming Rules for Water.

The revised guidance from Defra is here

We will be running a trout fishing weekend on the Haddon Estate waters of Derbyshire Wye on 16 & 17 July for WTT members and their guests. You may book either or both days.

The Haddon Estate in Derbyshire, through its Peacock Fishing Club, has kindly offered access to its fisheries again as a WTT fundraising and social event. This is an opportunity to fish some truly beautiful water for wild brown, wild rainbow trout and grayling across four rivers, including areas usually only available to club members.The Estate ceased stocking its waters on the Wye, Lathkill and Bradford in 2004, and since then has operated a thriving, catch & release wild fishery. The Lathkill, Wye and Bradford are strictly bankside fishing and dryfly only, but on the River Derwent, nymph fishing and wading are permitted.Local advice will be available to help you. To find out about the Peacock FFC, how the Estate’s fisheries are managed and what they offer, you are invited to meet the riverkeepers for a chat and buffet lunch (at no extra cost) should you wish. Contact Christina in the Office (office@wildtrout.org) to book; cost is £75 per rod, per day and you may book either or both days for yourself and any guests (guests do not need to be WTT members).You are welcome to join WTT’s Gareth Pedley and other attendees for a curry on the Saturday evening in Bakewell (if enough interest and at your own cost). A non-returnable £5 deposit to reserve a seat at the restaurant will be required at the time of booking the fishing. We hope to coincide with Stuart Crofts’s night-time bug sampling on the River Wye after the meal, which is a free optional activity.

One of the Wild Trout Trust’s founders, Charles Rangeley-Wilson, has been an awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for service to chalk stream conservation.

Congratulations Charles!

This recognition is very well deserved. Charles currently chairs the Chalk River Restoration Group, and led the development of a strategy for our chalk streams. He is both a tireless campaigner and a practical ‘doer’ – for example restoring his local chalk stream, the River Nar in Norfolk.

The Wye and Usk Foundation is working with 14 farmers in Herefordshire to help resolve the major issues in the Wye catchment. They have applied for funding to Defra under the new structure of funding that is replacing the EU Common Agricultural Policy - ELMS, in this case the top tier of funding: the Landscape Recovery Scheme.

It is good to see that rivers are a focus area for this funding and this is an excellent example of farmers and river conservationists working together.

Martin Williams, who farms on the banks of the Wye, said: “The bid is a golden opportunity for farmers in the catchment. If agriculture is 70% of the problem this project is a huge step towards us being 70% of the solution.”Our member's journal, Salmo Trutta, includes an article about phosphorous in the Wye catchment by the team at Lancaster University.

Updated 7 June: The WTT response to the consultation is here.

The Environment Agency has announced a consultation on the sea trout net fishery working along the north east English coast, from Hull to north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. At its peak, this fishery declared a catch of over 70,000 sea trout (around 70 tonnes), though numbers of fishermen and of trout caught in the fishery is declining, which is good news for the sea trout populations along the east of England and Scotland. Further information on the fishery and the consultation is HERE. We’ll publish WTT’s response long before the closing date of 17 June 2022.

A brilliant opportunity has arisen to join WTT as a part-time Conservation Officer, two days per week, to provide practical advice and help in habitat management and improvement for river interests, particularly in southern England.

Defra has announced a consultation on its Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction Plan.

The Water Companies are frequently discharging raw sewage into our rivers from Combined Storm Overflows (CSO’s) which should only be used to discharge during heavy rain to prevent sewage systems being overwhelmed. Many groups have been campaigning and lobbying the Water Companies, Government, Defra, the EA and OFWAT on this issue, resulting in a number of initiatives including an EA criminal investigation into 2,200 sewage treatment works.

The introduction to the consultation says:

On 31 March 2022, the Environment Agency issued the latest set of data for sewage and storm water discharges.

The data show that there has been no improvement in the number of discharges from CSO (Combined Sewer [or Storm] Overflows) into our rivers. Theoretically, these data are more reliable than previous versions since more CSOs now have Event Duration Monitors (EDM) which, when working, are designed to measure how much and for how long the CSO discharges into our rivers and coastlines. This makes it all the more worrying that there’s no improvement in pollution of our rivers (and coastal waters), a view shared by the Environment Agency and other NGOs.

The EA say:

With a newish hand on the tiller in the form of former WTT Director, Simon Johnson, the Freshwater Biological Association has announced an extensive programme of courses for 2022, many bound to interest WTT supporters, based in new teaching lab and conference facilities at the Association’s legendary base in Cumbria.

Courses are offered at varying levels and cover entomology (insects), macrophytes (plants), fish parasites and diseases and river restoration.  The programme of courses is HERE, with further details in a new website coming in mid April.

Two items of news from Wales:  Agricultural regulations to protect rivers.

After a long delay, in April 2021 a new set of regulations started to be rolled out in Wales, designed to address the high levels of agricultural pollution, in particular to reduce nitrate and phosphate pollution resulting from the application of fertiliser and slurry to farmland. Farmers objected to these 'All Wales Nitrate Vulnerable Zone' regulations and the NFU in Wales instigated a Judicial Review of the Welsh Government to challenge the regulations.

On 23 March 2022 the Judge determined that the regulations were lawful and should stand. The decision was reported by the NFU.  The State of the Usk report on the radio.

Thank you to Chris and all at Butts Brewery for the annual donation to our cause, spawned from the sale of their fabulous Barbus barbus beer.

We’re going to put the donation towards a drone for one of our Conservation Officers, to spread word on how rivers work and what river restoration can do.