High Bullen House Hotel AGM, Talk and Dinner

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High Bullen House Hotel

AGM, Talk and Dinner
17:30 on 31st March
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Either come and pay  on the night or click below to pay online

We have a talk on the  EA’s new water enforcement regime and a second on the work on headwaters to reduce peak flows.

£32.50

The funds raised from the following auction will all go towards improving the ecology of the River Taw, Mole and other tributaries.

Please bid generously and forward to other likely interested friends

 

RIVER EXE – SALMON A River Full of Fish ( Once Upon a time)

RIVER EXE – SALMON

            Lanacre Barn Gallery is situated  in the heart of  Exmoor a short distance from Lanacre bridge that straddles the River Barle. The gallery is hosting an exhibition focusing on fish and life within water. https://moorlandart.com

‘Fabulous Fish’ will run daily from 25thMarch – 8th April 2023, from 11am-5pm, at Lanacre Barn Gallery in Withypool, Exmoor, TA24 7SD. It will be open to the public, admission is free, and refreshments will be available.

            As part of this event a talk was held with Phillip Turnbull Fisheries Technical Officer with the Westcountry Rivers Trust. The talk entitled The River Exe – A River Full of Fish, gave a fascinating insight into the history of the river Exe and the fish that have swum within.

The River Barle at Tarr Steps

            The Westcountry Rivers Trust aims to enhance and protect rivers across the region with the long term survival of fish at the heart. Phillip listed the fish that have been recorded in the Exe including migratory and non-migratory species. Migratory species include salmon, sea trout, eel, lamprey ( sea, brook and River) Allis/ twaite shad, Atlantic Sturgeon. Non migratory fish include brown trout, grayling, bull head, stone loach and minnows.

The River Barle

         The salmon are of course the most iconic of these species and much of the talk focused upon salmon and their past and future. The story of salmon on the Exe is an all too familiar tale with a dramatic decline in recent decades. Salmon are believed to have been harvested from the Exe since before Roman Times. Records from 1771 tell of  a catch of 1000 salmon in Exeter in one week, A river full of fish indeed!

            The largest salmon recorded from the River Exe was caught in a net at the mouth of the River in 1924 and weighed 61lb 4oz. I believe a cast of the fish can still be seen in the museum at Topsham.

Migratory fish (all species) have declined globally by 76% and 93% in Europe alone.  This is reflected in global Atlantic salmon populations with a steady decline since the 1970s, with an estimated 50-70% decline in the past 40-50 years.  River Exe salmon are classified as ‘At Risk’ meaning we need to work together to reverse the decline.

                       Salmon are seen as a keystone species the proverbial ‘Canary in the mine’.

An ambitious  five point plan has been implemented to reverse the decline in stocks.

  1. Improve Marine Survival – Missing salmon alliance https://missingsalmonalliance.org
  2. Reduce exploitation – Catch and Release, Netting ban
  3. Remove barriers to Upstream migration
  4. Improve Water Quality
  5. Safe Guard Flows

  The present focus is to deliver bespoke fish passage improvements at all remaining weirs on the river, whether this be removal or installing site-suitable fish passes.

A similar initiative was undertaken on the River Taw and has resulted in some promising signs.

The River Barle has been identified as the prime spawning area on the Exe system and is an SSSI with good water quality and significant redd capacity.

            Climate change is having a significant impact on river flows and weirs are impacted upon with times of optimum flow reduced. Salmon migration both upstream as adults and downstream as smolts is impacted upon by high and low flows. Up to 50% of smolts are thought to perish in the rivers. The slowing descent of smolts disrupts their marine feeding time, water quality is impacted by low flows and predation is increased.

            The weirs can be removed or modified to incorporate fish passes. The project involves a great deal of research to determine ownership and complex negotiations to deal with abstraction licences and use. RETA ( The River Exe & Tributaries Association) Is working in partnership with Westcountry Rivers Trust, which is supported by the Environment Agency and South West Water.

            The talk also highlighted many factors that can impact on salmon and river life some of which do not immediately spring to mind. The redds are vulnerable to disturbance during the winter and early spring and care should be taken when entering the river at this time. Veterinary products used to treat dogs such as Spot On are highly toxic to invertebrates living within the river. Wild swimming is also a concern with sunscreen highly toxic especially during  times of low  water when dilution is minimal.

            AWARENESS of the river environment is key with education essential.  Citizen Science can play a significant role in highlighting issues with regular monitoring of water quality a key initiative. The  underfunded EA does not have the resources to carry out adequate monitoring.

            The River Fly Monitoring program can also play a significant  role in identifying and highlighting problems. https://www.riverflies.org

            Connection with our rivers is vital in helping us to understand their delicate and unique eco systems.

            Nicky Green gave a talk on the Invasive signal crayfish that are now to be found throughout much of the Exe system. These crustaceans carry a plague that kills the native white tailed crayfish. They predate heavily upon invertebrates, fish eggs, fry and lichens. They also burrow deeply into banks resulting in siltation and erosion.

The crayfish were introduced during the mid 1970’s as part of a failed food industry plan.

 

Musings on Angling literature from Richard Wilson

Many thanks to Richard Wilson for sharing his latest musings on angling literature and the realities of early season excursions.

Sex, Drugs & A Perfect Snake Roll

Some of the finest fishing literature is drenched in sun-kissed hedonism and fuelled by drink, drugs, sex and fighting. So what am I doing wrong?

It’s early March and, at last, I’m on a real river. It’s the moment of transition out of my close-season daydreaming. A rude awakening.

Every year this re-entry induces a psychological shock as a churning ice flow crashes into my expectations. So why, after so many years of winter prepping, is this always a surprise?

Before we go chasing fish, please come back with me to my close-season habitat. My den is a place of comfort, clutter and a friendly armchair.  There are plenty of fishing books, very few of which are of the ‘how-to’ genre. Real books offer tactile pages and vicarious riverbanks.

Meet the righteous stuff of my Dreamworld: From my armchair, I can prepare for the coming season with a dabble in Hemingway’s knuckled prose, sun-kissed marlin and drunken machismo.  Surely (I hope) he would have been knocked senseless by Norman “A River Runs Through It” Maclean and his brawling brother.

And, from my playlist, what exactly did Louis Armstrong mean by his summery “Gone fishin’ – I’m real gone man” Or how about John Gierach’s story of meeting a familiar face, knowing only that it was last seen “under the Haight-Ashbury sign” in a late ‘60s summer?

For more context, I could turn to flamboyant jazz maestro, author and fishing junkie George Melly. He was truly well gone, but back then the only snow in the jazz clubs went up your nose. And let’s not forget the Great Gonzo angler-provocateur Hunter S Thompson whose sun-soaked drink and drug-crazed fishing exploits would have been fatal for most of us.

It’s heady stuff and, back in my den, I’m left wondering if self-medicating my lengthening midlife crisis counts as exuberant hedonism. On reflection, I decide probably not – but live in hope.

Many of the best fishing books live hard and fast, mixing the profound with the earthily profane.  And nowhere do these two primal urges collide with more urgency than in the timeless prose and jaw-dropping life story of Negley Farson, author of Going Fishing. He was the real deal; a buccaneering, hard-drinking, hard-living, hard-fishing all-American writer who really did drink Hemingway under the table. And, whisper it quietly, isn’t Hemingway’s branding looking a bit past its sell-by date? Just sayin’.

No list could be complete without the soothing influence of Harry Plunket Greene. He was light on drink, drugs and fighting, even though he had a direct family link to Mary Quant without whom the psychedelic 60s would have been beige. His utterly charming 1924 book Where Bright Waters Meet is a page-turning delight about favourite beats, some of which I know intimately. He transports me to a time when it’s always June and the evening rise is dappled perfection.

That was then. Now I’m in northeast Scotland where, thanks to my winter book-worming, I have arrived primed to hit the water with rod loaded and dander rampant (that’s a Scottish heraldry thing).

This is the Oykel, a river I have long wanted to fish – but harsh reality is not quite the image I’ve spent the winter incubating.  Spring, it isn’t. The baby rabbits, lambs, migratory birds and the damsels a-dancing are nowhere to be seen. It’s immediately clear that my cock-sure arrival is hopelessly misjudged.

The view from the hut.

Today the river is vengeful and the gillie is insanely lightly dressed. I’m wearing every layer I have because the wind, rain, hail and even the top 6 inches of the foam-flecked water are all travelling upstream. Everything is flotsam except the salmon, of whom there is no sign – and who can blame them? They’re all tucked up warm, comfortable and far out at sea.

It gets worse. I am on the right bank fishing down and the only cast that might work doesn’t. So another cack-handed Snap T variant disappears upstream, a flailing line spun from angry eels. And I’m still in mid ‘Snap’.  I may remove the fly for my own safety and I’m starting to hallucinate with cold.

My face is blue, my hands are rigid and soon I’ll be the late departed and shuffling off to meet Isaac Walton. I think I see my fishing partner Charles float past, face down. Perhaps he’s a log. Whichever, I’m not going in to retrieve his corpse in this. Hopefully, he left his Winston rod on the bank. I can’t yet find the words I’ll use to tell his widow I’ve retrieved only the Winston, but I have 5 more days solo fishing to work that out – and enjoy the rod.

This, emphatically, is not the armchair fishing I have perfected over winter.  What was I thinking of?

It’s not just the books that have led me astray. I’ve also followed a lackadaisical close-season training routine.  I have occasionally sat in my armchair making perfect, minimalist Snake Rolls and Double Speys with, machismo alert, just my bare hands. Anyone who knows the mesmeric rhythm of Spey casting intuitively does this: Lift, roll and whoosh. Now try a Snake Roll.  Always a perfect cast. We all do this boastful in the bar after fishing and in private as an angle-maniac’s onanism.  Even when refined to the most compact of movements my imaginary rod loads and fires perfectly every time, if a little late in life.

It’s self-delusion of course and, worse, makes me look like an idiot in the eyes of my family.  And, damn the hubris, my indoor training has now dumped me bereft of talent in the maw of a blizzard.

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A break in the weather.

I retreat to the fishing hut and a mug of chicken soup, mercifully hot from the flask. Disappointingly, Charles is alive and already in here. So I won’t be getting his Winston, yet.  But he hasn’t seen or caught anything either, which is good.  Fishing is a brutal zero-sum game. My gain is your loss, and vice versa.

And where’s the gillie? Have we been abandoned? We wonder if a fishing party has ever been found, days later, frozen to death in a fishing hut with snow drifting into the eves. Is there any nutritional value in cork? At that moment the door opens: “Sorry lads, had to move the pickup.  How’s it going?” He looks pink, smug and warm. We exchange suspicious glances.

So whose fault is it that I always arrive bankside with plans-akimbo? Why, I wail into the gale, why didn’t someone tell me?  Well, I already know the answer to that and can name names. I have a rogue’s gallery of culpable bastards whose fishing worlds promise warm, cosy waters stuffed with hard-fighting fish.

So here’s the shortlist: Hunter S Thompson for dazzling my teenage years with aspirational derangement. Plunket Greene for living the dream at the expense of his marriage (no, I can’t).  Farson for showing that there’s no such thing as excess provided writing, fishing and drinking all travel together. The siren Taw Fishing Club for the sexiest fishing website ever. Simon Gawesworth for making Spey casting look ridiculously easy.  The Beatles for staying at a favourite hotel, The Edgewater in Seattle, and fishing from their bedroom windows.  And Led Zeppelin, who went one better and had a live fish in their Edgewater suite.  Although what they did with it is not entirely wholesome and their drug-fuelled orgy might still, even now, have legal repercussions.  Proper rock and roll fishing. So why wasn’t I invited? All bastards.

I could go on. There are many, many more and you may have your own to add (name some; it’s cathartic). In fishing, like politics and childhood, someone else is always to blame.

Finally, I would urge you to heed my favourite definition of fishing: “Getting away from everyone for a few hours to talk about stupid things and act like you’re catching fish.”

So next year I should spend February and March warm and cosy in my den reading stupid things and acting like I’m catching fish. So: Lift, roll and whoosh – then mend and … strike!

But I won’t: How else will I get the Winston?

A print version of this essay can be found in the March edition of the excellent Fly Culture Magazine. For the online North American take, please try this: The Hatch Magazine

 

CASTS IN HOPE

  Hard to believe that three weeks of the 2023 salmon season have passed already. The first few days of the season saw rivers running low and clear with numerous kelt’s tempted by anglers fishing the lower Taw. There were rumoured to be a couple of fresh springers tempted but I have not actually seen any pictures of such fish.

            Heavy spells of rain have brought the Taw and Torridge up and a couple of weeks have seen both rivers virtually unfishable. I set out today for my first visit to the Middle Torridge.

            The river was running higher than ideal but clarity was good with a perfect tinge of colour. If any salmon were present I felt there would be a chance. Salmon are scarce these days and expectation is not as heightened as it once was. Despite this we fish on in hope and drift flies across those old lies where the line has tightened in the past.

After a couple of drifts across the river the line zipped tight and it was good to feel life pulsing through the rod and line. A pleasing brown trout of close to 1lb had siezed the salmon fly.

            Steady rain was falling as I reacquainted myself with the river. It was good to be back once again on the river bank. The yellow splash of colour from primrose and daffodil telling that spring was here. Catkins and pussy willow decorated the riverside trees.

            Pheasants broke cover occasionally startling me as they fled, mallards flew up from the river and buzzards mewed high above the trees.

            All seemed as it should yet I couldn’t help but reflect on the depressing words of the ghillie who spoke of the dying river Wye on the BBCs Country file.   The Wye that borders England was once one of the country’s greatest salmon rivers, today it is dying as a result of pollution and climate change.

            The Taw, Torridge and most South West rivers are suffering a similar fate. It is sad that we could be the last generation to enjoy the privilege of fishing for the Atlantic salmon.

With this in mind I savour each cast hopeful that I might once again connect with that iconic silver bar.

RIver Taw Fisheries & Conservation Association – News

 

Chairman’s Report

Our AGM will be on the 31st of March at the Highbullen Hotel. We have a speaker from the Environment Agency called Harry Chance. Harry is an Agricultural Regulatory Inspection Officer and will update us on the greater level of enforcement that was first trialed on the Axe and is coming to the Taw.

We are running our annual auction online this year. The link is at the bottom of this piece which can be forwarded to as many people in your network as you feel might be interested. Chris Taylor, as ever, is rounding up auction lots. If you would be willing to donate, be it fishing, stalking, other experieces or equipment, then do email Christopher Taylor ([email protected]) or me ([email protected]). We will continue to add lots and run the end date through into mid April.

We have started the new season with a bang with around 20 fish caught on the lower beats, mainly kelt on the Barnstaple & District Angling Association water. Wisely, they immediately asked members not to spin and then brought in a voluntary cessation of fishing until the next large tide that should carry these valuable fish safely out to sea. I have checked with other rivers and these unusually high numbers have not been replicated elsewhere. They equate to a lot of eggs in our river and will only represent a proportion of the total spawning fish. This gives us some reason for optimism. Any angler who does catch a kelt should take particular care in returning this valuable fish to the water.

We hope the weather is an improvement on the 2022 season. Last year we had a promising start with several early fish caught. The rain then stopped and the summer and early autumn were a complete right-off. Our final figures were a miserable 53 salmon and 83 seatrout. The one lesson is to put in the effort when the conditions are right. Those lucky enough to fish the lower river did have sport in periods the water was cool enough to fish.

The Committee has been working away behind the scenes on protecting the ecology of our catchment. The toughest job was working with Fish Legal on a private prosecution. Alex Gibson coordinated this and his report is in this Newsletter.

There are rapidly increasing numbers of shad spawning in our river, most likely the result of the weir removals assisting their migration. We contacted various researchers through Jo Madden (Upper Taw Representative). An article on this fresh-water breeding herring can be read elsewhere in this Newsletter.

Over the years we have improved access over our weirs, bought out the estuary salmon nets, succesfully lobbied IFCA to ban other estuary netting, monitored fish numbers through fry surveys and beat surveys, collaborated with South West Rivers Association on various lobbying activities, cleaned compacted and silted gravels to assist with spawning, sued polluters and those that damage the ecology of our river and brought a multitude of other benefits. The two major causes of damage we continue to battle are sewage treatment works and poor farming practices. We can’t change these alone and so view collaboration as a necessary strategy. The North Devon Biosphere have a Catchment Partnership and Ian Blewett has a seat at that table as outlined in his article in this Newsletter. A major step forward will be in-river water monitors that have been trialled in the Umber and are now to be introduced in the Little Dart.

William Martin has just completed a new website for us. It will allow greater flexibility, easier communications – such as this email – and also online auctions. Bryan Martin has ably managed our previous website for which we are grateful and will continue to assist with the new one. The new model allows other officers to have direct access alongside Bryan.

Andy Gray

The Mole Pollution Incident

The Mole pollution incident has been extensively covered in
our website over the last 2 ½ years. Now that the legal processes have run their course, I have been asked to write a concluding article. We should remember though that the  effect of so many of our fish being killed will be felt in our salmon, sea trout and brown trout fish stocks into the future.

Sadly we have become used to the drip by drip deterioration
in the water quality of our river caused to a great extent by the bad practice of farmers and our water company, South West Water, this despite extensive campaigning efforts for improved regulation and enforcement. There was always a feeling though that a major catastrophe could be around the corner.

I was Chairman when I received a call from the EA on the
morning of 1 August 2020 telling me that there had been a major fish kill incident, Category 1 in EA terminology, as a result of anaerobic digestate used as a fertiliser getting into the Mole in large quantities. For reasons of continuity I stayed involved until all the legal loose ends were finally tied up towards the end of last year.

An estimated 15,600 fish in a 5km stretch of the Mole were
killed, from above the link road to the junction of the Molland Yeo where fortunately sufficient dilution took place. This stretch is an important spawning and juvenile area for the river. The salmonids actually counted by the EA were: 315 salmon parr, 1,155 salmon fry, 14 adult sea trout, 1,127 adult brown trout, 328 brown trout parr and 1,222 brown trout fry.  Although no adult salmon were killed the loss of three generations of juvenile salmon will be felt for years to come. The same situation applies to the sea trout killed and to the unknown number of juvenile brown trout killed that would have migrated to sea as sea trout.

The EA mounted a successful criminal prosecution of Alun
Sing’s company and one of his employees. The total fine was £2,667, an amount viewed as derisory by those concerned with the health of the river. The proceeds went of course to the Treasury not to the river. With the criminal prosecution out of the way it was open to us to mount a private action for damages. It turned out that amongst all the riparian owners below the polluted stretch on the Mole and on the Lower Taw only five RTFCA members, a
disappointing number, could be identified as members of Fish Legal. These five, acting as claimants, engaged Fish Legal and after a long, drawn-out legal process compensation of £18,000 was paid. Each of the five claimants agreed that the proceeds should go to the Westcountry Rivers Trust for river improvement work on the Mole and this has now happened.

What lessons can be learned?

Taking legal action in relation to river pollution is a
time-consuming and expensive business which requires specialist skills. This we found out through working alongside Fish Legal and through the excellent efforts of Justin Neal, Fish Legal Solicitor. I do urge riparian owners to protect their own and the river’s interests by becoming members of Fish Legal, thereby in effect insuring against the costs of legal action and making legal action affordable.

Those who pollute our river should be held to account and
pressure needs to be brought to bear on the EA to prosecute Category 1 and where possible Category 2 incidents.

Criminal prosecutions do have a deterrent effect. It is therefore important to decline offers under enforcement undertakings as RTFCA did in this case. By using the enforcement undertaking arrangement and offering money direct to the affected party the polluter seeks to avoid a criminal prosecution. It is important to note that after a criminal prosecution there remains the option, as in this case, of bringing a private action with proceeds going to river improvement work. A successful criminal prosecution by the EA
increases the likelihood of a successful private action.

We will never eradicate all the threats that our river faces,
but we must do all we can to minimise them. This means that anglers should act as eyes and ears on the river and report pollution incidents to the EA via its hotline (0800 807060). It may seem dispiriting that individual cases are not followed up by the EA unless there is a fish kill, but action becomes more likely against the repeat offender if incidents continue to be reported and logged.

Three anaerobic digesters on our system are three too many. There
is always the threat of a major incident directly or indirectly connected to them. I would urge any member who hears of plans for others being built to bring that information to the attention of the RTFCA Committee so that a concerted campaign can be launched to nip such plans in the bud.

Fortunately major incidents are rare and I hope my successor, Andy Gray, has a smooth ride in this respect.

https://fishlegal.net/2022/12/09/anglers-successfully-sue-river-mole-polluter-and-donate-18000-settleme

Alex Gibson

From the River Bank

Frosted grass as I walked to the river, stark trees and the river running a steely cold blue green.

The Fly was swung across familiar lies the line drew tight and it felt good to feel a fish throbbing with life on the line. No silver bar but a pleasing out of season wild brownie of perhaps a pound.

A skein of geese flew over their calls drifting through the cold March morning air. It was good to be out by the river; though I do look forward to those warmer days when the sand martins will be swooping low over the water.

On arriving back at the car, I met a fellow angler arriving to fish. We chatted and he told me he would have got here earlier but his wife was working and he had to walk the dog. I quipped that walking the dog was better than working. “Not so good as fishing though”  came his swift reply.

Whilst relishing the joy of fishing the river I will mention that it is well worth tuning onto BBC 2 on Sunday night at 8:00pm when Paul Whitehouse is presenting a documentary about the state of our river’s.

Paul Whitehouse travels through the north of England, looking at the impact water companies have on its rivers.

Our Troubled Rivers

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jw6x

Paul explores the change in the water industry since privatisation in 1989 and what regulations are in place when it comes to sewage discharge into rivers. He meets concerned locals in Yorkshire looking to highlight the health of the River Wharfe, a conservationist who warns of the ecological decline in iconic Lake Windemere, and the man at the front of the battle for the country’s waterways, Feargal Sharkey.

 

 

A new Season underway – With silver success

http://www.quaysports.com

March 1st is the first day of Spring and salmon fishing on the Taw and Torridge. I was keen as always to get out on the river despite the chill North East wind that was blowing. With the rivers on the low side after one of the driest Februarys on record I figured that the club water on the Taw would be as good a place to try as anywhere. I was in no rush to get to the water’s edge as I figured the salmon would be likely to respond as the temperature began to rise later in the day. In truth I was not expecting to hear much but my optimism was boosted when I received news of a fresh run salmon from below Umberleigh caught by Simon Hillcox.

I pulled into the layby at Newbridge to find keen river angler Chay Boggis setting off . He had already caught a kelt and reported that river keeper Don Hearn had caught a fresh run springer.

Don Hearn enjoyed first day success tempting a springer on a spinner

I donned my waders, and started to take my rod from its tube when realisation of my first blunder of the season dawned ! I have forgotten to pack vital items of gear on a few occasions. This was the second occasion in over fifty years that I have forgotten to pack my reel. I cursed loudly; should I go home and get the reel or just take a walk along the river bank to catch up with fellow anglers. Fortunately; Chay saved the day grabbing a spare reel from his truck. An 8 Wt floating line would be fine with a fast sinking braided leader added to get the fly down.

Chay Boggis with one of several kelts caught on opening day.

It was good to once again wade out into the cold river that was running clear after weeks without rain. Whilst it was cold, signs of spring were all around pussy willow bursting forth and birds singing beside the river.

I swung the fly, across the river  and after a few casts the line momentarily tightened. Was that a pull? I drifted the fly across the same spot and felt no resistance so maybe it was  a chance or just a trout….

It was good to  be out a new season ahead. I strolled down the bank met up with Don Hearn, John Webber and other club members. It was good to talk of the river and its salmon. The club is enjoying a revival with a strong membership with efforts made to improve river access and promote fishing. The club has for many years given the opportunity for local; anglers to enjoy salmon, sea trout and trout fishing at a very reasonable cost. For full details visit their website; –https://barnstapledistrictangling.co.uk

Barnstaple Club members gather on opening day

The first visit of the season always tell a tale of the winter floods. Lies change new snags appear yet much remains as it has always been. The deep water of some pools are almost certain to hold silver treasure and the hope to connect is strong as the fly is drifted.

Several club members have elected to try a spinner a method that can be effective in cold water of early spring. Spinning is permitted on the Taw and Torridge until March 31st with single hooks mandatory. Always check individual fishery rules as many are fly only.

Club Chairman – John Webber stands beside new steps giving easy access

            I fished a couple of hours and did not connect with that spring dream. It was good to get news of several fresh run fish and kelt’s. The kelts are welcome sight as they are evidence that fish have spawned during the winter months. The coming couple of months will see the downstream migration of smolts. Great care should be taken to return both kelts and smolts carefully.

Debris tells the tale of winter floods

            Salmon face an uncertain future and need anglers to campaign hard for cleaner rivers and habitat improvement.. We must do all we can to protect and nurture the rivers for the future.

( Above) Ever changing yet constantly flowing

The Lower Torridge looking great as the season starts.

Dark Days – Ramblings from the waters edge

The Winter Solstice, light fades from the day and the natural world turns the corner. The journey towards Springs renewal begins again. I cannot understand why our own calendar is so out of sequence with that of the real world. The natural world we live in where the light is dictated to by the revolving world the moon and the sun.

Perhaps as anglers some of us are more finely tuned to the natural cycles of life. I certainly despair at what has happened so quickly. I first cast a line for salmon in the River East Lyn over forty years ago and in those first few seasons I was fortunate to connect with numerous salmon and glimpsed many more in the clear waters.

We walked the River today its tumbling waters rushing between boulders and fallen trees. The salmon should be spawning now; hopefully there are a few still cutting redds high up in many tributaries and head waters. I remember walking the river over thirty years ago in the depths of winter. Salmon were plentiful then with fish spawning even in the lower river. I gazed into the swirling waters of Vellacots today but sadly I saw no salmon.

It was good to see the new signs on the River today highlighting the amazing life cycle of the salmon. The river is still a joy to fish and has a good head of wild brown trout.

The reasons for their decline are both complex and many. Water quality probably isn’t a major factor on the Lyn. The main problems are probably out at sea where few salmon survive to return to the rivers of their birth. Predation by seals, otters, cormorants and other predators is undoubtedly a factor. The natural eco system is I believe out of balance and this has much to do with the hand of mankind. We exploit the vast oceans and seas depleting fish stocks and then do our utmost to protect the creatures that feed upon these depleted stocks. It is depressing to think that at the present rate salmon could be virtually extinct in South West Rivers within the next few years. I witness this dramatic decline in my lifetime and despair when I pick up todays Times newspaper. ” Conservationists have reacted angrily to the announcement that the target date for cleaning up the majority of England’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters has been pushed back by 36years to 2063.” FFs………

At least public awareness is growing regarding the rapid decline of the natural world. Is it too late?

Another sad note I have witnessed in recent years has been the increasing barriers to accessing the coast. This is undoubtedly a result of an increasing population and the demand to enjoy the marvelous coastline. Inconsiderate parking of cars and the dropping of litter are contributory factors. A lack of respect for Private land and over zealous land ownership can also lead to confrontation. When I started sea angling access to many areas of the coast were open access. Today no parking signs and barriers seem to blight the landscape.

In some parts of the South West fishing marks have become no go areas due to anti social behaviour. I dont have the answers to all of these issues but a little more tolerance and respect for others would go a long way.

River Mole Polluter Pays £18,000 in Damages

River Mole Polluter Pays £18,000 in Damages

 A company that polluted nearly 5km of the River Mole, the principal tributary of the River Taw, in Devon has paid £18,000 in damages to local angling clubs and fishery owners following a legal claim. In July 2019 liquid anaerobic digestate deposited by agricultural contractors AJ Sing and Sons Ltd on fields north of South Molton entered the river, causing what was described by one Environment Agency officer as the worst fish kill they had seen in 30 years. An estimated 15,600 fish died as result of the pollution, including juvenile salmon, adult brown trout, sea trout and juvenile brown trout.

Represented by Fish Legal, the anglers’ damages claim followed a criminal prosecution brought by the Environment Agency (EA) where the company and an employee were fined a total of just £2,667 at Exeter Magistrates Court on 28 July 2021.

The anglers are donating all of the damages to help fund projects run by the Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT) in co-ordination with River Taw Fisheries & Conservation Association (RTFS) that improve and restore the habitat and spawning potential of the River Mole, giving fish populations the best chance of recovery.

Justin Neal, Fish Legal Solicitor, said: “The digestate was being spread at a time when there was rain and the leaking pipe was left for days, meaning that this highly damaging waste washed into what was a pristine river habitat, causing a total wipe-out of fish for a considerable distance.”

He added: “Whilst we are pleased that the EA prosecuted those responsible for pollution offences, we are finding in other cases across England and Wales that the spreading of digestate and fertiliser is not properly controlled with full oversight by regulators.  Nevertheless, we hope that the money which was paid to our angler members can now be put to good use to assist the recovery of the catchment.”

Alex Gibson – River Taw Fisheries & Conservation Association

Alex Gibson, who was Chair of RTFCA at the time of the pollution incident and is also a claimant said: “It is not just anglers fishing below the polluted stretch, but all those who enjoy the river and its ecology that have felt the devastating effect of this pollution incident and unfortunately will continue to do so into the future.  Our collective claim enables us to provide £18,000 to the WRT for river improvement work on the Mole.

He added: “We hope the fact that anglers on the river have come together to take legal action directly against these polluters will send a message to others in the catchment that they need to take care when dealing with highly toxic substances or pay the consequences.”

Statement from Alex Gibson

“We all remember too well the Mole pollution incident at the end of July 2019. Anaerobic digestate being spread as a fertiliser on fields north of South Molton by Alun Sing, a farmer and contractor, was allowed into the River Mole in large quantities.

The EA estimated that about 15k fish were killed over a 5km stretch. That made it an EA Category 1 incident. Adult sea trout, adult brown trout, juvenile salmon and juvenile brown trout, some of which would have become sea trout, were killed. Also killed were stone loach, bullhead and minnows. In short it was an ecological disaster.

The EA’s prosecution was successful and we then mounted a private action using the services of Fish Legal. This took the form of 5 RTFCA members of Fish Legal acting as claimants. I am pleased to say that our claim has now been successfully settled. The £18k received is being paid by the 5 claimants to WRT for river improvement work on the Mole.

Here are a few conclusions of my own.

  • Farmers should not be allowed to get away with polluting our rivers. Category 1 and where possible Category 2 incidents must be prosecuted by the EA.
  • Offers of Enforcement Undertakings should be declined as RTFCA did in this case. By offering money direct to affected parties the polluter seeks to avoid prosecution. If farmers are not prosecuted there is no deterrent effect to bad practice.
  • Private actions can be successfully brought, but only by concerted action using a specialist service, namely Fish Legal. It was disappointing that only 5 Fish Legal members could be found among RTFCA riparian owners. More members will be encouraged to join Fish Legal and I would make the point more generally for all owners of fisheries elsewhere.
  • As RTFCA has always been aware, anaerobic digesters, of which we have 3 on our river system, and the spreading of digestate from them are a continuing threat to our river and need to be properly regulated and overseen by the EA.

This incident happened during my chairmanship and has reached its conclusion during Andy Gray’s. I hope Andy never has to face anything similar. The RTFCA Committee asked me to continue taking responsibility until the file could be closed. Thankfully we have now reached that stage.

Thanks are due to the other claimants and to the RTFCA Committee, both of which groups, I would suggest, have made the right decisions during this long, drawn-out process.

The success of our private claim though is really down to the excellent work done by Fish Legal and in particular by Justin Neal. For many reasons this was never going to be a straightforward case. I have enjoyed working with Justin, but we will both be happy to close the file.”

                          Alex Gibson

http://www.rivertawfisheries.co.uk/html/current_news.html

Fish Legal is a not-for-profit organisation of dedicated lawyers who use the law on behalf of anglers to fight polluters and others who damage and threaten the water environment. Fish Legal secures compensation for its members to help restore polluted waters and challenges Government and regulators when they fail to protect fisheries.

  • Fish Legal represented five fisheries on the Mole and the River Taw including the Barle Fishing Club, the Wampford Syndicate and three riparian owners.
  • The River Mole sub-catchment is a highly important spawning and nursery area for salmon in the Taw catchment. The impact on juvenile salmon from this incident will potentially result in some reduction to the number of adult salmon returning to the River Mole in 2021, 2022 and 2023 migration periods.
  • The dead fish included 1,127 adult brown trout, 14 adult sea trout, 1,222 brown trout fry, 328 brown trout parr, 1,155 salmon fry and 315 salmon parr
  • For details of the River Mole prosecution and sentencing outcome: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/north-devon-company-fined-for-pollution-that-devastated-fish-population
  • Fish Legal took legal action on behalf of a member club on the River Leadon in a similar incident in 2016 when an employee instructed to fertilise one of the orchards at a farm near Dymock in Gloucestershire failed to check the valves before turning on the irrigation system designed to take the digestate fertiliser from a lagoon to the orchard. https://fishlegal.net/case-studies/river-leadon/