I hope you are all thriving and making contact with our silvery friends (no, not smelt!).
I’m sending a group e-mail, although I know that you have had different levels of contact and details from me in the past, through meetings etc. Apologies if this repeats anything, I’m trying to bring everyone up to same level.
I am writing about the Celtic sea Trout Project, which is now thankfully fully staffed and underway. As you will recall we are hoping to collect as many sea trout scales as possible from 24 river around the Irish Sea and the Conwy/Clwyd are two of the rivers. Others are, in Wales: the Dwyfawr, Dyfi, Teifi, Tywi, and Tawe, and in England: Ribble, Lune, Ehen and Border Esk. We might need to adjust this selection, depending upon how sampling goes. There are many more rivers involved, but these are the ones where we doing the detailed life history work.
If we can hit our targets of 300+ /river as soon as possible we can then see if that is enough, or if we might need to increase in places. Through this message I want to check if you have got scale sampling kits and scale envelopes.
In the interest of costs it is preferable to have lits/envelopes centrally dispersed and collected. Foxons, in St Asaph, have kindly agreed to act as a hub for this purpose in North Wales and there are now scale kits and spare envelopes there. If you are a long way from Foxons, or if it isn’t convenient for you then please let us know and we can mail you some. If you are fortunate to get sea trout scale samples could you please leave them at Foxons, or hang on to them (just keep them somewhere dry) until we can collect through the Autumn meetings or other prearranged route. We will also get a Freepost system up in due course.
Our website (www.celticseatrout.com) is still basic, but will be greatly improved very soon and on it we will have the month by month river totals as well as updates on other developments and other background sea trout information for around the Irish Sea, which we hope you’ll find interesting. Currently, there is more information at the “Campaign for the Protection of Welsh Fisheries” site (http://cpwf.co.uk/home/), and many thanks to Alan Cuthbert for that.
Regarding the scales we had in 2009. We have had to wait to get these registered on a central database to ensure we can manage the data set (which will be very big) in the long run. Please bear with us and I’ll get scale reading results back to you in due course.
I really hope you can support the project as it goes into it first full year and look forward to meeting you again (or in some cases for the first time) through various channels as we go along. We’ll have some full feedback meetings in the Winter.
If you need further information or advice please e-mail me or Dr Carys Davies (carys.davies@bangor.ac.uk) the Project research Officer (tel:01248388603), who is now managing the sampling programme on this side of the Irish Sea.
Finally, tight lines and please feel free to pass this information and request for scale samples (and the supporting info!) on to any of your friends who fish the Conwy or Clwyd.
Each year salmon and trout spawn in the upper reaches of river systems and tributaries. Salmon and sea trout will also spawn in the lower reaches of rivers where the gravel and flow conditions are suitable.
Spawning for all salmon and trout takes place between October and the end of March although the peak activity takes place between November and January. The exact timing depends on the river’s location, the flow and temperature. Spawning often takes place in and around the same location each year. The eggs develop in the gravel until the young fish, known as fry, hatch out and emerge from the gravel in April.
Like all wild animals fish can be scared by the activities of people. The impact of this disturbance will depend on its location, severity and timing.
Eggs in the gravel can be damaged or destroyed if the gravel area (known as the redd) is stepped on, disturbed or covered with silt. For the Conwy the risks are highest between October and the end of January and lower from February to the end of March.
It is an offence under the Salmon & Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975 to willfully disturb any spawn or spawning fish, or any bed, bank or shallow on which any spawn or spawning fish may be.
You can find out if you are on a river where spawning takes place and if your activities may cause disturbance by referring to the Conwy salmon and trout spawning map. For more detail on specific spawning areas talk to the local Environment Agency fisheries officer for the Conwy by phoning 08708 506 506.
Salmon, sea trout and brown trout spawning areas have been recorded onto a map to help inform recreational water users about the areas of river that may be sensitive to disturbance during the spawning season.
To view the map click the button below:
To view the Environment Agency advice & guidelines clich the button below:
“The single issue campaign on behalf of the anglers of Wales: local and visiting”
“yr ymgyrch mater unigol ar ran genweirwyr Cymru: lleol ac ymwelwyr.”
The Campaign Team may have been relatively silent for the past month or two, but we have not been idle.
You will remember we started by slating the Environment Agency about the appalling lack of enforcement on our rivers. It is a national disgrace, about that there can be no doubt, but what can we practically do about it?
We tried appealing to the Welsh Assembly Government. What did they do?
They instructed the Environment Agency to carry out a review of their enforcement policy nationally.
The Environment Agency did as they were asked: their report was presented to the Welsh Assembly Government.
That report can be read here on this site under the ‘progress’ tab. What did it say? In essence and to greatly over simplify “we have no idea of the level of illegal activity taking place on Welsh fisheries and lack the facilities identify it”
The Environment Agency then offered the Campaign the chance to suggest just who should try to establish the truth. The Agency made suggestions: university specialist departments; the police and several more.
We had no faith in any third party because of the very special nature of poaching and the fact the crimes are victimless. (The fish have no voice.)
So where do we go from here?
We take the bull by the horns and offer to do it ourselves!
This is just what we have done and now we have to do it. When we say we, we mean all of us; the angling community and as many of our friends as we can persuade to help.
The 0800 80 70 60 hotline number as lost all credibility: few anglers have any faith in it and even fewer use it. The problem is that the reports from the 0800 80 70 60 number are used as the basis for assessing the level of illegal activity. No reports = no illegal activity. Can we address this issue?
We think so. We have, in partnership with the Environment Agency, set up an online reporting system. You can go to the Campaign web site and report an incident on line, and we get a copy. So now you can use the 0800 80 70 60 number to report an incident that requires an immediate report requiring potentially immediate attention by Agency enforcement staff then, later, you can confirm that report on line and as we get a copy we can start to build our own data base to build up a picture of illegal activity taking place. We can, if you all help. Please encourage all your angling friends and contacts to not only use the 0800 80 70 60 but to confirm their calls on the Campaign Report an Incident page. All details remain 100% guaranteed anonymous: no conditions – anonymous.
Please ask your club or syndicate to add a link to our report and incident page or just to the Campaign site and ask your members to use the facility.
We have been offered the opportunity to help ourselves: please use it.
There are other ideas in the pipeline and as they develop we will keep you informed.
This is our chance to help ourselves. Please join in. This is our Campaign!
Please take a few minutes to have a look at the rest of The Campaign site and look and see how we are continuing our work to help protect our fisheries. We are a single issue campaign.
Please hep and please comment on the forum or by contacting us via the web contact address.
This is a national disgrace, that so much of our national heritage should be under the protection of so few defies description without the use of the strongest expletives. We are all aware of the need to educate some of those, who think it acceptable to eat our coarse fish. Until this education is complete these fisheries need protecting. Salmon are an endangered species and they and their spawning areas have by law to be protected. Our sea fisheries are being raped by overfishing. The world has gone mad. God preserve us from accountants and those that set targets and performance indicators. The time has come for us to make our voices heard and to fight for adequate funding for those charged with the protection of our fisheries.
PLEASE GO TO THE SUPPORT US TAB AND SIGN TO CONFIRM YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE CAMPAIGN. Thank you.
As a point of interest, not that it in any way detracts from the value of the article, I think they have Thames and Wales details swapped.
All round angling guru Henry Gilbey has joined the campaign.
Henry Says:
Anybody who knows me knows that I have a serious problem, and that is my lifelong addiction to fishing. Over ten years ago it was getting so bad that I had to explore the only route left open to me, and that was to find a way of working in fishing and making it my life. Don’t ask me quite how it has happened so far, but at this point in time I work full time in the sport of fishing as a writer, photographer, TV presenter and consultant. I love my job and I love fishing more and more each day. I told you I had it bad.
For some strange reason I have been asked to present four separate TV series so far, principally for the Discovery channel (Home and Leisure, then RealTime, and now Shed – they like to keep you on your toes !!) – Fishing with Henry (don’t you just love that original title), Fishing on the Edge, Wild Fishing and Wild Fishing 2. I remain eternally grateful for the fact that anybody actually watches these shows, because you can rest assured that they never get shown in my household. I love the creative process of actually making TV shows, even on our small scale, and the great thing about fishing is that the sport is always going to be bigger than the individuals. There is no such thing as a “fishing celebrity”. We spend our fishing lives trying to beat nature, and I would guess that nature kicks us all pretty hard a lot of the time, and being on TV ain’t ever going to change that.
If I can help the campaign even the tiniest bit I will be really pleased.
A very happy, prosperous and successful new year to you all from your Campaign Team.
2009 was a good year for us:
The Campaign web site has been updated, upgraded and improved in every way by our web site manager, who is not only a whizz with computers but a dedicated angler who’s enthusiasm seems to be boundless. We should all be especially thankful for such a boost and congratulate Alec and Karen on the birth of their son, Ben, last September. I believe Ben already has a full fishing kit polished and ready to go!!
We established meaningful contacts with Recreational Sea Anglers and were lucky to be joined by Steve Pettit, or Seajunky as he is perhaps better known to many. Steve has worked tirelessly for the benefit of recreational sea anglers for years. He is a natural ferret: when he gets his teeth into a subject he just will not let go. He has brought the famous faces to the Campaign and we hope he has more to bring in the future.
If you are a sea angler and seek answers, contact Steve via the Forum or Contact Us, if he can help, you can be sure he will.
This coming year brings a number of challenges: not least of which is challenging angler apathy. This we can not do without your help.
We are hoping to increase our close working relationship with the Environment Agency Wales. They do not have the staff or the funding to protect our fisheries as they did in the “old days”. We have to help supplement the work they do and did and work with them, not only to protect our fisheries but equally importantly to establish a meaningful assessment of the level of illegal activity taking place on our fisheries. When we do this we can use the information gathered to pressurise the politicians to better fund fisheries and fisheries enforcement activities. This is up to us all and we have to do it. Complacency is not an option.
We are looking to introduce a number of new initiatives throughout the year, so watch this space.
We are not funded by any organisation, nor do we seek funding. Your Campaign is free to join, your opinion matters, but only if you pass it on. We are not self appointed, we have the written support of individual anglers and angling clubs numbering 20,000. However without your continued support in time and effort the Campaign will come to nought. This is your Campaign and your voice matters. Please send us any articles, comments or even publicity for your own clubs and we will be pleased to publish them. Our links (see videos & stuff) numbers are growing, if you want us to add a club or site link just send it through and we will add it.
If you wish to join the Campaign Team, send us your contact details we will welcome your help in any way, we are especially keen to seek assistance in growing club links and contacts with other organisation.
We have to be positive and look forward to a great 2010.
Our Rivers, campaigning for the protection of all UK rivers seeks the Ministers views on the up coming requirement to meet the targets of the River Basin Management Plans. You will remember that the consultation on these plans was concluded last year.
We feel that the targets set were far less onerous than perhaps they could have been and that the eventual outcome will be far less than we would have wished. However having made our views clear the process of implementation is soon to be approved. It is well worth listening to the Minister, however please note the total lack of reference to enforcement and to the provision of bailiffs. We must continue to work for this provision.
Following the Campaign’s appeal to WAG, the EA were instructed to carry out a review of illegal activities in Wales (see progress page). As a result of the review, the first “change in attitude” publications have started to emerge. The EA have recently released this briefing note, whilst funding still remains an issue, we feel this is a very positive step in the right direction. Read it for yourself by click the link below – give us your feedback on the forum.
International Casting Champion and Celebrity Angler Hywel Morgan has pledged his support to the Campaign For The Protection Of Welsh Fisheries.
Hywel Morgan is the son of legendary Welsh fishing guru Moc Morgan, he first wet a line at just two and a half years of age and spent his early years fishing the Rivers Teifi and Ystwyth for wild brown trout and sea trout. Since then he has fished extensively throughout the UK, Europe, Australia and in the USA. Hywel is responsible for a string of very successful angling dvd’s and presents various angling TV programmes on Discovery Real Time, Horse & Country TV and S4C.
Having grown up in his father’s shadow, Hywel decided to make a name for himself and started competing in casting competitions. He started at local country fairs, then progressed to the CLA Game Fair where for three successive years he won every event. As a result he was asked not to compete any more so that others could have a chance of winning… and all this before he was sixteen years old. He then turned to the British Casting Association and started to compete at British, European and World casting championships. During this time he amassed the following titles:
World Games Accuracy Casting Champion
European Distance Casting Champion
European Silver Medallist (Accuracy)
14 British casting records
6 times All Round British Champion
Over 100 British Individual titles
World Record holder for multiple casting (66 rods cast simultaneously)
Hywel guides on a lot of waters in Wales and this venture is very close to his heart. If you want further information please visit his web site: http://www.hywelmorgan.co.uk
Needless to say we are absolutely thrilled to have him on board. Hywel’s contribution is a fantastic boost to the campaign and speaks volumes in terms of the level of support for our work. Speaking to him recently, Hywel had this to say:
“Anything that secures the future of angling is very important, this venture is one that must succeed, we need to make sure that the fishing in Wales is protected for future generations as we as anglers are only guardians”
Here, Here Hywel ! – We look forward to working with you
Mick Brown is one of the most well known and certainly one of the most enthusiastic anglers in Great Britain. Over the last twenty years he has become well known for his written work and photography, and in more recent times has become a popular television personality. His influence now extends all across Europe where he also features in the European angling press. Look out for his work in Coarse Fisherman, Pike and Predators, Total Coarse Fishing, Angling Times and Improve Your Coarse Fishing in the UK. In Europe, Mick contributes occasionally to Blinker (Germany), Pescare (Italy), Total -Truite – Carnaisier (France) and De Roofvis in Holland.
Although Mick has caught large fish of most species, he is renowned for his pike catching exploits. To date he has 276 pike over twenty pounds to his credit, including 21 over thirty pounds. He currently has a passion for catching outsize UK catfish and has now landed 13 UK cats weighing over 60 lbs. Mick’s philosophy is still to enjoy every fish he catches, whether large or small. His pike catches have been made in many countries and from every type of water imaginable. In fact he has taken twenty pound plus pike from more than fifty different waters.
In 1991 he left his career in engineering to become a professional predator angler after setting up his business Mick Brown Angling Services. Combing his technical and writing skills with his vast angling experience, he soon became useful to the UK’s top tackle and bait manufacturers and is currently consultant to Fox International Ltd and Dynamite Baits, both leaders in their field.
For more info please visit Mick’s website: www.mickbrownangling.com
We are delighted to have Mick on board, his pledge is a very welcome addition and is a fantastic boost to the campaign.
Mick says: “I am more than happy to support the Campaign, very worthwhile. It’s the least I can do to put something back to help the waters that inspired me to go fishing. I spent my earliest fishing days on holiday in Central Wales, fishing the Ithon and Wye. Very happy memories and some wonderful rivers to protect. My father and uncles really loved fishing the Welsh rivers for Brown and Sea Trout and would very happy to know I was doing this on their behalf as well. Sadly they are all gone but the rivers roll on. A sobering thought for us all!”
The Campaign For The Protection OF Welsh Fisheries started its life as a Campaign fighting to secure improvements in the management of the Environment Agency Wales which would result in improvements to the protection of our fisheries. After a long period of confrontation, which if it did nothing else, highlighted the abismal lack of enforcement activity on Welsh fisheries, the Campaign changed tack. Having actually talked with senior managers at the Agency, we concluded that at the heart of the problem was a lack of adequate funding from the Welsh Assembly Government. The Campaign, with the assistance of Mark Isherwood A.M. presented its first appeal to the Welsh Assembly back in 2006. This appeal resulted in the Minister requesting that the Environment Agency Wales carry out a review of its enforcement activity Wales wide. The appeal and review are both available for you to view on this site, as is the subsequent appeal and response. The review by the Agency included the first public confirmation that there was no clear indication of the level of illegal fisheries activity in Wales. Following consultations with the Environment Agency Wales, the Campaign is now moving into its next phase and is currently working in partnership with the Environment Agency to trial a new incident reporting system developed by the Campaign team. The aim of the trial is to enable a team effort between the under resourced Agency front line staff and anglers, with the help of the public, to try to establish a meaningful and reasonable estimate of the level of illegal fisheries activity taking place on one of our river systems. The trial is currently limited to the Rivers Clwyd and Elwy and their tributaries, but assuming the trial goes well, the system may be rolled out across Wales.
At the heart of the initiative,which remains by anglers for anglers, the Campaign team’s number one priority to maintain the safety of anyone who participates and reports an incident. The new system links directly to the Campaign & EA and allows members of the public to report incidents anonymously.
We will continue to point out short comings and failures in the current enforcement processes but with a view to highlighting the issues more funding will help to challenge.
This is your chance to make a real difference, the system will only work if you join in and actively work with us.
Please make the most of this opportunity but remember – still use the 0800 80 70 60 hot-line number, ask to be transferred to Wales if directed to the English control room and ask for an incident number. Any problems: let us know.
We are delighted to welcome Leon Roskilly, a very well know and respected member of the angling campaigning fraternity. His web site the Sea Anglers Conservation network is one of the most respected and well read on the web. The link can be found below on the right hand side of this page. Leon has signed up on the forum and we look forward to reading his comments which are always considered and well written.
Leon is the author of the Golden Mile Initiative, which we believe has the potential to be the greatest boon to our fisheries, both sea and game anglers would benefit as well as the economy a truly win win situation. Please take the time to read his idea which can be found under the INITIATIVES tab above. This really is an issue worth supporting and fighting for: please vote there.
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