Salmon and Trout Association: Blog

April 2009

Paul Knight - April 2009

I think that we have to strike a better balance between carping at the Environment Agency's (EA's) lack of performance over various issues, and getting positively involved to help deliver a better deal for the aquatic environment. Chief amongst this is the draft River Plans for the Water Framework Directive, where we are all concerned about the lack of ambition and a flawed process. I'm fairly confident that the EA now has that message loud and clear, and accepts much of the criticism. It's time to stop whingeing, move on and get positively involved.

What I want to see is some positive suggestions by the Non Government Organisations (NGOs) as to how we can help the EA achieve good ecological status (GES) in our water bodies. We've said for ages that WFD is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so let's, as NGOs, seize it.

I had an unofficial meeting with three EA directors recently and they left me in no doubt that the door was open for NGOs to have some genuine influence in how WFD delivery pans out. What they weren't prepared to listen to anymore was all the negative bleating from the sidelines. The clear message was either join us as partners, or shut up!

So, at the risk of being accused of getting too deeply in to bed with the Agency, I am determined that fisheries genuinely influences WFD delivery. At S&TA, we've a tremendous Scientific Department working for us now, and we intend using it to best effect – backing up all our suggestions, arguments, policies, whatever, with sound scientific evidence.

So, rather than having yet another go at UKTAG for failing to find a national standard for sedimentation – one of our most serious problems, incidentally – S&TA is involved, financially and physically, in researching measures which will severely limit fine sediments entering water courses at catchment level – where it really matters. These measures will, at the latest, be available for the second cycle of WFD. We have ADAS, Defra, CEH and Southampton University as research partners. So, we're right in there where it counts with positive action.

And I'm determined that the Flylife Partnership (FP) gets closely involved too. We've told EA that the FP, which operates from within S&TA, has a massive role to play in monitoring the effectiveness of measures designed to deliver GES in our water bodies. The RP brings together angling/fisheries organisations, entomologists, conservationists and the Natural History Museum, with the EA, Natural England, SEPA etc, to teach sampling and identification techniques so that amateur groups can regularly monitor the water quality in their local rivers by sampling invertebrates. What we've showed the EA is that, because of FP's volunteer ethic, we can make scant resources go much further, but still do a really professional job. So, another action point is to get RP into every Basin Plan as a major contributor to monitoring WFD. Again, some positive action to put into the pot.

There's plenty of other scientific stuff we're involved in too – the effect of gender-bending chemicals (EDCs) on fish and inverts (not to mention humans), and Janina, our Head of Science, is doing a PhD correlating angling catch statistics with water flows (the impact of excessive abstraction on the water environment, amongst many other things). I've set out S&TA's stall that no more will ministers, or any other decision makers, be able to say in future that we're just a bunch of anglers with self interests. Or at least, when they do try to say it again, they get the scientific dossier proving our point dropped firmly into their lap. The science will help fisheries and angling, of course, but as we've proved time and again, the benefits go so much further – and that's why we've gained charitable status.

I'm so determined to make Fisheries NGO science influence national decision making that S&TA is taking on another Science student this summer to help with the workload. So, by supporting the Association, you are not just adding your voice to yet another tired old tirade of negative officialdom-bashing – you are doing something genuinely positive and proactive towards the future heath of our water environment, and the fish, invertebrates and many other species which depend upon it for the existence.

Placard waving and whingeing over; time for positive, professional, influential action!

As an angler, that you should make you feel good; it does me.