HATCHERIES TO CLOSE! A SAD DAY INDEED.

This is a very sad day for me and, I’m sure many many anglers. The NRW Board have made their decision.

The Campaign submitted their comments to no avail. It would be remiss of me not to place on record thanks to all those that took the time to respond, especially to Chris White, who has been ferret like in his determination to counter the evidence put forward by NRW and others, in support of their argument.

IT SEEMS THE LACK OF RESPONSE BY INDIVIDUAL ANGLERS HAS BEEN USED AS AN INDICATION OF OUR LACK OF CONCERN!

There follow the text of the email I received today in response to the Campaigns submission

Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to our consultation on ‘NRW’s salmon stocking, third party salmon stocking and the future of NRW’s hatcheries’. I’m writing to you today so that I can update you of our Boards’ decision on the way forward.

As you know, last year we reviewed our approach to salmon stocking, and the associated hatchery operations. We considered a wide range of evidence, and concluded that this evidence clearly suggested that salmon stocking is not effective and could harm wild populations. We consulted on these findings and received 112 responses to the public consultation. While the majority of responses opposed our proposals, very little new evidence was provided.

NRW Executive Directors reviewed the consultation feedback, the evidence for change and NRW’s legal obligations. They concluded that, on the strength of the evidence, the recommendations of the review should stand – and that stocking of both salmon and sea trout should end without delay. Yesterday, the NRW Board ratified this decision.
In the short term, this policy change will mean that, where salmon and sea trout are currently held in NRW and 3^rd party hatcheries, they will be used to complete the hatchery cycle and the fish will be stocked out before the end of 2015. The Mawddach and Maerdy hatcheries will close and any ongoing commitments will be transferred to Cynrig hatchery near Brecon. We will also be assessing the feasibility of developing a freshwater research centre at the Cynrig site.

We recognise that some people will not agree with this decision but we strongly believe that this is the best course of action to secure the future of wild salmon and angling in Wales. We will now make time to meet with those affected by this decision to agree alternative ways to ensure that Wales’ rivers have healthy and thriving salmon populations.

Michael Evans
Head of Evidence, Knowledge and Advice
Natural Resources Wales