Posted on December 01, 2020
Afonydd Cymru, the umbrella body for the rivers trusts of Wales, seeks a new CEO, following the very sad death of Stephen Marsh-Smith.
The application deadline is 4 January 2021. More details below and on the Afonydd Cymru website.
Chief Executive Part Time: 2 ½ days per week
Posted on November 26, 2020
Pet flea treatments are highly toxic insecticides used on cats and dogs to kill fleas, and recent research shows they are getting into our rivers across England.
This is worrying for our invertebrate life in rivers, and the fish and birds that depend on them. This issue was highlighted by Buglife three years ago but no action was taken.
Matt Shardlow of Buglife says:“Three years have passed since we first highlighted the risk to wildlife from flea treatments and no regulatory action has been taken. The massive over-pollution of all waterbodies with fipronil is shocking and there is an urgent need for the government to ban the use of fipronil and imidacloprid as flea treatments.”
Posted on November 14, 2020
Stopping sewage discharges into rivers.
With the Private Members Bill delayed to January, there is an even better opportunity coming up next week to stop water companies from discharging sewage into rivers.
Posted on November 12, 2020
Mike Jones is a specialist in groundwater resources. Whilst at Thames Water he directed major groundwater resource schemes to support public water supply during drought and future supply in an uncertain climate.
He will be talking at a Chalk Aquifer Alliance event, hosted by Bury Water Meadows Group. The talk will address these questions:
Posted on November 09, 2020
The Environment Agency and Forestry Commission have published a report about riparian buffer zones, which are strips of uncultivated land on the river-bank, ideally 10m-20m wide covered with deciduous trees and shrubs. The report is detailed and, in places, quite technical but the take home message is as clear as ever – buffer zones are good for rivers and for wildlife. They help reduce flooding, reduce diffuse pollution, capture sediment and carbon and keep rivers cool by providing shade.
The video below is a simple but graphic demonstration of the effect of buffer strips.
Posted on November 03, 2020
Another autumn is upon us and trout are undertaking their seasonal migration to find good habitat for spawning. In rivers, this usually means an upstream journey into headwaters and tributaries where the resulting offspring can spend their early lives before colonising the wider river system (or sea, in the case of sea trout). This migration can be over considerable distances (tens of kilometres) – but only if the way is clear. Man-made barriers litter our watercourses, on average one every mile (1.5km) in British rivers, stalling or preventing migration and greatly limiting fish populations.
On the River Ecclesbourne in Derbyshire there are two such barriers and the Wild Trout Trust is working in partnership with the Environment Agency, landowners and others to try and overcome them. Success will make miles of good spawning habitat accessible, not only for trout but also salmon which have been returning via the Rivers Trent and Derwent in recent years, after being absent since the Industrial Revolution. The short film (below) by wildlife cameraman Jack Perks introduces the project.
Watch this space for updates as the project progresses. Contact Tim Jacklin tjacklin@wildtrout.org for further information
Posted on November 02, 2020
UPDATE: the bill has been delayed until 15 January 2021. Plenty of time to write to you MP!
There has been a great deal in the media recently about the poor quality of the water in our rivers, and in particular the discharge of untreated sewage from Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs).
You can find out more about the various campaigns and petitions on our water quality blog.
Posted on October 27, 2020
The Institute of Fisheries management will be hosting a ZOOM Evening with Eels on Monday 2nd November 2020 at 7.30.
Eels in the Thames; from Domesday to No-Eel Brexit, with Darryl Clifton-Dey of the Environment Agency and Eels in the Azores: Trapping, Tagging and Tracking with Andy Don of the Environment Agency.
Posted on October 21, 2020
WTT Vice President Matthew Wright talks to Jack Perks in this podcast for World Fish Migration Day on 24th October.
Some good discussion about the WTT, the role of anglers in conservation, Matthew's experience of our 'Get Togethers' including our virtual Get Together in September this year, mental health and fishing.
Posted on October 19, 2020
To date, while the ecological impacts of invasive crayfish are widely known, the evidence for detrimental effects on fish species in the UK has been equivocal, based upon small-scale and/or short-term studies with correlative results, and laboratory experiments that may not always reflect impacts in nature. Hence, finally, it is good to see the first robust study of the impacts of our most widespread invasive crayfish, the signal, on the fish and invertebrates of upland streams (although the results do not make comfortable reading). Senior author on the study, Dr Martyn Lucas, has summarised the key findings below.
We used a combination of BACI (Before-After-Control-Intervention) and Control-Intervention studies in the upper River Tees catchment to robustly measure the effects of signal crayfish invasion on fish abundance, and fish and benthic invertebrate community structure, over medium (identical surveys at the same sites in 18 streams in 2011 and 2018) and long (30 years, benthic invertebrates in 3 invaded and 3 uninvaded streams) timescales.
Bottom-dwelling fishes, especially bullhead (a UK Biodiversity Action Plan species, and EU Habitats Directive protected species – but also an invasive salmonid egg eater in parts of Scotland), were dramatically reduced in abundance in invaded streams and stream sections. Recruitment of bullhead collapsed in signal crayfish invaded streams; this is not surprising as signal crayfish and bullhead both use cobble/boulder refuges and bullhead spawn under boulders, from which signal crayfish tend to exclude bullhead. Bullhead appear to have been extirpated from two study streams invaded by signal crayfish.
Posted on October 19, 2020
Trout have started spawning in some parts of the country where water temperatures are low.
It is worth remembering that trout will spawn in streams less than a metre wide, and that we need to recognise the importance of these tiny, seemingly insignificant systems which some might (and do) consider drains or ditches.
This tweet from the Ness Fisheries boards shows a video of trout that has moved from a loch to a burn spawn in a burn no more than a metre wide.
Posted on October 05, 2020
We have put some of the material from our Virtual Get Together in September on our YouTube channel.
Highlights include Paul Procter sampling invertebrates, Jon Beer discussing trout spawning lakes, Trout in the Town with Theo Pike and Paul Gaskell, fly fishing for barbel, Joe Crowley talking to Charles Rangeley Wilson about chalk stream restoration and photographer and film maker Jack Perks on freshwater fish.
Posted on September 24, 2020
Today, 24 September 2020, sees the closing date of an Environment Agency consultation, Challenges & Choices, that seeks views on the challenges our waters face and the choices and changes we all need to make to help tackle those challenges, with the offer to respondents to help shape the management of the water environment.
WTT’s full response is HERE, offering an on-the-ground view from our 1000 or so days out on the river each year, working on hundreds of kilometres of river. What we’ve said in this consultation reiterates what we (and many others) have been saying directly to Government and the regulators for many years.
Posted on September 22, 2020
There is a huge amount of media coverage at the moment around pollution in our rivers and campaigns to improve water quality. Last week, the EA announced that no rivers in England were in 'good' status for chemicals. This blog post by Richard Benwell of Wildlife and Countryside Link is a very good summary that explains what this means and what needs to happen now.
Posted on September 10, 2020
The Test and Itchen River Restoration Strategy, led by the Environment Agency, has just won the 2020 UK River Prize awarded by the River Restoration Centre.
WTT is proud to have been a delivery partner in this strategy. Well done to Heb Leman, Hannah Barclay and the team.
