News

This is an exciting new initiative to promote community participation in improving rivers, wetlands, estuaries and coastlines, sponsored by Thames Water and led by the Wild Trout Trust, Environment Agency and Angling Trust.  We are looking for projects to be undertaken in the Thames Water area this autumn around the date of the global World Rivers Day, 28th September 2014.   The programme is in its infancy and we have a modest amount of money from which we hope to support between 30 and 50 projects over three years.

For 2014, applications are open until 25 July 2014, with the next tranche in February 2015.

More information about the programme is on the Wild Trout Trust website at http://www.wildtrout.org/content/rivers-and-wetlands-community-days: an Executive Summary document of the project, the application criteria and process document and the application form.  

WTT supporters, Jack Spee and Mark Rudd have decided to undertake a "small" walk to raise money for two charities - Ribble Rivers Trust and Water Aid.  Both Charities seek to provide clean water for people to enjoy and deliver large amounts of work to make this happen. To find out more and offer a donation click here

The Test and Itchen Catchment Partnership offers an invitation to help prioritise projects in their catchment. The stakeholder event will be on Monday 7th July 2014, 10am – 1.00pm (followed by drop-in session 1.30pm – 4.30pm) at Testwood Lakes, Totton Southampton. Contact details here

To view the Test and Itchen Catchment Partnership e-newsletter, click here

Following the success of the raffle in May, we have 5 more fishing days to raffle in June. You buy a raffle ticket for the day that you want to win.

They are days on these rivers:

• Rivers Loddon and Lyde in Hampshire
• River Lambourn in Berkshire
• River Wye and lake at West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire
• River Manifold in Staffordshire
• River Darent in Kent

Tickets are £10 and can be purchased in the website shop – click here. A maximum of 50 tickets will be sold for each fishing day, so you have a good win chance!The 5 winning tckets will be drawn on 5 July.

Wildlife film maker High Miles has updated his excellent film about the River Allen in Dorset to include some footage from a Wild Trout Trust Practical Visit run by Mike Blackmore for the Dorset Wildlife Trust.In the video below you will see Mike helping to collect and record native crayfish (he loves crayfish as much, if not more, than trout!) and installing faggots to provide cover for native crayfish as well as other river wildlife.

For more information about requesting WTT advice and practical help, click here 

The video is 30 minutes long. 

The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust makes grants to individuals to travel overseas for 4-8 weeks. The objective of the trip is both to enhance award winner’s effectiveness in their career or field of interest, and to bring back knowledge and best practice for the benefit of others in UK professions and communities.

150 grants will be made for overseas travel of 4-8 weeks in 2015. Deadline for applications is September 2014.

The article in Salmo Trutta 2014 ‘Me and Mr Churchill’ is very good example of a Churchill Fellowship Award. You can buy a copy of the journal here.

The Wild Trout Trust has a long-standing relationship with The River Glaven Conservation Group (RGCG), dating back to the Cinderella Chalkstreams Project when a reach of this Norfolk river was restored by then WTT Director Simon Johnson ably assisted by Vaughan Lewis and the RGCG volunteers. 

More recent projects for Tim Jacklin of the WTT include Hunworth, and Glandford Mill and the upcoming river diversion at Bayfield Hall. All have benefited greatly from the involvement of RGCG and its close links to the local community. RGCG do an exemplary job in promoting the need for river restoration, generating local support and enthusiasm and getting their wellies on and getting stuck in! Download their latest newsletter here or check out the website at http://www.riverglaven.co.uk/

For all the latest research news from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust's fisheries team including the MorFish salmon project, click HERE

Evaluating the impact of engineered in-stream structures to upstream fish passage of Salmo trutta

This study, written by Mike Forty, aims to inform conservation efforts by providing valuable measurements of the impacts of engineered in-stream structures on the upstream fish passage of Salmo trutta. Mike is in his second year of a PhD at Durham University and has been supported by the Ribble Rivers Trust.

For a copy of the study click here

Mayfly Research

This new website link http://www.luten.org.uk/research/ecology has information about the latest mayfly phenology work at Loughborough University and their wider work in climate change in UK rivers.

For further information about climate change, read our WTT articles

The Welland Sea Trout Project, a partnership between the Environment Agency, Welland Rivers Trust, Wild Trout Trust and the Guash Fishing Club, aims to restore the sea trout run to the River Welland and to improve river habitats and biodiversity. Read the latest project update here.

The Moray Firth Trout Initiative is requesting that fishermen gather scales from their catches and send them in for analysis. The top ten anglers who collect the most scales will be entered into a draw for an Orvis reel and line.  Data from reading scales is an important source of information in fisheries management. It can determine if an individual fish is a brown trout or a sea trout,  and also helps understand the behaviour of a whole  population.  The  information from the scales will help the project  to improve management to protect local trout populations and their habitats.  For details of how to collect scales, and how they will be used, click here  For more information on scale reading, click here  - this page incudes a video of WTT Director, Shaun Leonard, demonstrating scale collection and reading at the Urban Conclave in 2013. Click here to view an article by Dr Andrew King on how scale analysis is helping to understand the sea trout population on the south coast of England.

The River Ash in Hertfordshire appeared as the first story on BBC Countryfile on 11 May.  The Ash is a chalk stream and, like many chalk streams, has suffered from dredging in the past.  Landowner Nicholas Buxton has taken steps to improve the habitat for trout and all wildlife, in partnership with the EA and Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, following an Advisory Visit by the WTT. The film includes a good section with Charlie Bell of the Wildlife Trust carrying out a kick sample to check on the invertebrate life in the river. 

You can watch the programme on BBC iPlayer until 17 May. Click here to go the iPlayer. The River Ash is the first story, approx 7 minutes. 

The Advisory Visit report is available here  (you will need to register on the website to download - quick and simple !) 

Two interesting senior roles with Rivers Trusts are being advertised.

The first is a full time Director for the Wessex Chalk Stream and Rivers Trust: http://www.environmentjob.co.uk/job/49940-director.

The second is a Senior Projects, Programmes and Operation Manager with the South East Rivers Trust:http://www.environmentjob.co.uk/job/49931-senior-projects-programmes-and-operations-manager