Following comments received we have been asked to remind you of the following:
• Crayfish – no crayfish, of any species, whether alive or dead, and whether whole or in part, may be used as bait for
salmon, trout, freshwater fish or eels;
• Livebaits – livebait may only be used in the water from which it was taken and only during the same period of
fishing;
• Fish roe – no fish roe, from whatever source, may be used when fishing for salmon, trout or freshwater fish.

It is worth noting that enquiries are already being made of clubs as to which of their waters are leased from public bodies like the Forestry Commission. When you read the report you will understand why.

Inquiry into Access to Inland Water in Wales Welsh Version

Please remember we welcome all contributions. Thank you.

This important report on Sockeye salmon applies equally to our salmon and sea trout – and serves to confirm that they are best protected and maintained by preserving the river and its wild stocks in their natural state. Tampering with the river (Brianne), channel engineering, stock manipulations are all counter productive and will lead to a long term loss of resilience in the face of global warming.



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New Standards for Reliable Fisheries: Preserving Population Diversity Stabilizes Fisheries, Ecosystems, and Economies
ScienceDaily (June 1, 2010) — The many populations of sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska act like a diversified portfolio of investments, buffering fisheries and incomes from the ups and downs of particular stocks. Sockeye salmon are one of the most valuable fisheries in the U.S., and since 1950, more than 60% of that value has come from Bristol Bay.
A new study in the June 3 issue of Nature quantifies, for the first time, just how much depends on this “portfolio effect.” Without its current population diversity, the Bristol Bay sockeye fishery would close ten times more frequently — once every two to three years rather than once every 25 years.
The study, by scientists at the University of Washington, draws on five decades of data and provides the first solid evidence that population diversity within a species plays a key role in maintaining stable fisheries.
“We believe this new evidence is a game-changer for managing species and entire ecosystems,” says lead author Daniel Schindler, an ecologist at the University of Washington. “Population diversity of species is often overlooked by managers and conservationists. Yet in general, current rates of population loss are probably a thousand times higher than species loss.”
The authors argue that, in order to maintain the steady flow of fish and other ecosystem services people depend upon, managers will need to put an explicit priority on preserving population diversity within species. Such strategies require aggressive protection of the habitat networks that ultimately generate and maintain population diversity. Both approaches will become increasingly important as a first line of defense against climate change.
“Part of it is understanding history and having the discipline not to chase the hottest stock of the day,” says co-author Ray Hilborn, also at the University of Washington. “We have to maintain a range of productive elements — a broad range of stocks.”
With a landed value of more than $120 million in 2009, the Bristol Bay sockeye fishery has provided a reliable source of income and food year after year. This is because sockeye salmon are finely tuned to the individual streams and lakes in which they were born, and are thus incredibly diverse. Some populations do better in cold, wet years — others thrive when it’s hot or dry. Each population experiences its own boom and bust cycles based on environmental conditions and pure chance. But given sufficient diversity, there should be enough winners to make up for the losers every year for the species overall.
“Mother Nature does a pretty good job dealing with uncertainties — climate change, for instance — by producing a diversity of populations,” explains Schindler. “In terms of fisheries, we need to have a longer- term vision for the viability of populations; the populations that are strong now are not necessarily going to be strong in coming years, so we need to protect weaker populations too, as insurance for the future.”
Protecting weaker populations is a challenge- not only in salmon, but also in other species like tuna and cod. Managers must reduce fishing pressure below the levels that the stronger populations can tolerate, or distribute fishing pressure to protect diversity within stocks. The authors argue that in addition to protecting existing population diversity, we must also preserve and protect the variety of habitats that generate population diversity in the first place.
Many salmon rivers, including the Sacramento River in California and the Columbia in Washington, once enjoyed a high degree of population diversity and productivity. However, decades of heavy fishing, habitat degradation and reliance on hatcheries have dramatically simplified populations in these rivers. This has resulted in intense boom-and-bust cycles and frequent fishery closures. In British Columbia, major salmon rivers like the Skeena and Fraser have some populations that are highly depressed and show symptoms of decreased portfolio performance and increased vulnerability.
Hatcheries are frequently used to bolster wild salmon populations. But over time, hatchery fish can become closely related to one another, and can contribute to declines in unique wild populations. Eventually, hatchery-dominated areas can resemble one giant population. Just as intensive monoculture practices make food crops more vulnerable to disease or bad weather, a dependence on hatcheries can leave a fishery open to huge swings in fortune.
“The first lesson [of this paper] is that a wild multi-stock fishery can function very well on its own — better than we’ve ever done with any kind of hatcheries,” says Jack Stanford, an ecosystem scientist at the University of Montana who was not involved with the research. “Hatcheries are counterproductive if the goal is to sustain very healthy wild fisheries, especially in light of climate change.”
Beyond hatcheries, the study results hold other important implications for wildlife management strategies in the US and beyond. In terms of habitat protection, for example, California is currently working on lessening the blow to Chinook salmon, delta smelt, Central Valley steelhead, and green sturgeon in the Sacramento and San Joaquin delta. A March 2010 report by the National Research Council supported recommendations by the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service to reduce the number of engineered diversions, such as dams and water diversion channels, in these river systems, on the grounds that they have negative consequences for these endangered species.
“In the Sacramento River, we have a history of exploitation and degradation going back to the gold rush,” says Steve Lindley, a research ecologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Santa Cruz, CA, who was not involved with the research. “It’s radically simplified the habitats that salmon depend on in the valley. In California, people have managed ecosystems with concrete. We build dams, line channels, and build flood control structures. Rivers need room to work, and they make salmon habitat if you let them. This research shows that sustainability depends on a healthy ecosystem, but our technological fixes to ecosystem problems usually have unintended consequences that make matters worse for salmon.”
Salmon population loss is not confined to places with lots of people. The same activities that started eroding salmon diversity in the Columbia and Sacramento rivers a hundred years ago are spreading northward quickly.
“Bristol Bay, the most productive salmon ecosystem in the world, is facing decisions about major development proposals such as the giant Pebble Mine copper and gold mining facility, as well as hydroelectric dams,” explains Stanford. “This research shows that the choices made in Bristol Bay today will help determine whether the fishery remains reliable for the next hundred years and beyond.”
Hilborn adds, “Offshore drilling has also been proposed in Bristol Bay, and a spill similar to what we’re seeing in the Gulf of Mexico could devastate this productive fishery. However the diversity in timing of migration to the ocean and age at maturation among different sockeye populations — that is, the portfolio effect — could afford them protection. In essence, protecting diversity is a form of insurance against the unexpected.”
The lessons from Bristol Bay will be important for communities that rely on sustainable ecosystems, as well as the decision makers charged with managing them.
“This is a ground-breaking piece of work,” says Jeff Hutchings, a professor of biology at Dalhousie University in Canada and former chair of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, who was not involved with the study. “It’s the strongest evidence to date that there’s a financial benefit to maintaining population diversity — and a greater chance that species can withstand environmental and human induced change. It’s not done in a lab or in a tank. These are real rivers and a strong data set for a major fishery. If managers ignore this, they do so at their own peril.”
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea – COMPASS, via AlphaGalileo.
________________________________________
Journal Reference:
1. Daniel E. Schindler, Ray Hilborn, Brandon Chasco, Christopher P. Boatright, Thomas P. Quinn, Lauren A. Rogers, Michael S. Webster. Population diversity and the portfolio effect in an exploited species. Nature, 2010; 465 (7298): 609 DOI: 10.1038/nature09060
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
APA

MLA
Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea – COMPASS (2010, June 1). New standards for reliable fisheries: Preserving population diversity stabilizes fisheries, ecosystems, and economies. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 7, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/2010/06/100602130817.htm

Go to the links tab to visit their web site………………..Click here to make a donation to the Monow team.

TUESDAY 22^nd APRIL 2010

I was pleased to be invited to this all day conference and intended to put a note on this page about it the following day, which was last Wednesday. Why then, you ask, has it taken me so long to put pen to paper? To be honest, I think had I done as planned my comments would have been so euphoric as to have created the impression that the Campaign had been under some sort of undue influence from the Environment Agency Wales, who were the conference organisers and who brought out all their “big guns” in support of the occasion.

The reason for my delight was simple: the change in outlook and attitude the conference reflected on the part of the Agency and the Local Fisheries Advisory Groups.

The Agency had all their fisheries staff present, including Andy Schofield who had travelled up from Cardiff.

The Local Fisheries Advisory Group had given over one of their meeting dates to facilitate the whole event.

Usually conferences on any subject can be a bit of a pain or at best have one or two interminable long and boring sessions when staying awake is a real challenge; Credit where it is due the whole day way a pleasure as well as being enlightening and providing a good opportunity to network. ( I hate that word – sorry). There were displays, stands and demonstrations which were informative as well educational as well as addresses by the Clwyd and Conwy Rivers Trust and The Welsh River Dee Trust, both of which were informative and nicely put together.

The opening address by Andy Schofield Fisheries Strategy and Policy Manager for the Environment Agency Wales gave a very upbeat address, albeit that the message included a warning of; “less funding, less service and potentially more cuts”. I also noted that the number of bailiffs looking after our fisheries in North Wales in now down from eight to six and one of those is on “cockle duties”, so the need for the Campaign is greater than ever.

I am sure the details of the conference will be published elsewhere and if they are I will add them to the site later.

The point of this note is to pass on my delight in what seems to be a major change in attitude on the part of both the Agency and the Local Fisheries advisory Groups. The Agency has, in the past been less than communicative and the LFAG’s have been almost secretive: not intentionally, I’m sure but I never really heard much of or from them and they are after all our representatives. So Conference seems to mark the beginning of a new era in which genuine communications seems to be starting. What we learned from the communication may not all be good news but where it was bad it was presented honestly and openly and that has to be a good thing. I am hopeful that some of us that attended will get together to write with some feedback to suggest some changes that may be made in the future but I have to say, and without reluctance.

Thank you and well done to the Environment Agency Fisheries Staff, who organised the day, and thank you to the LFAG’s for agreeing to let us join you for the day.

Nets near to river estuaries

Nets in or across rivers

Trampled grass that indicates suspicious activity

Nets may be hidden away in the bracken or bushes to save the poachers carrying them home and back.

Keep your ears open for boasting of illegal fish being caught or offered for sale in your local.

Please, if you see or suspect illegal activity call 0800 80 70 60 and report it. Then, when you can, confirm that call by submitting an on line report via this web site. Just click on the REPORT AN INCIDENT tab and fill in the details. It is 100% confidential but all reports can be collated to provide evidence of illegal activity on our fisheries.

We need you help to gather the evidence to present to the Welsh Assembly Government

Please ask your club to add the Campaign link to their web site with a note asking members to use the Report an Incident tab to confirm their calls.

You can also use the site to report information that will help us and the Environment Agency gather intelligence. Any overheard comments or indeed suspected activity should be reported. Better too much that not enough information.

YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE: YOUR FISH AND FISHERIES DESERVE IT!!

Thank you

The Campaign Team

The face of the new licences for this year and the prices.

No we are not advertsising on behalf of the Environment Agency Wales, we are reminding you that your licence fee contributes to the cost of protecting our fisheries. So please purchase yours and help protect our fisheries

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 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.

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.

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.

Henry’s Website: http://www.henry-gilbey.com/

We are delighted to have Henry on board, he will be a great boost to the campaign and our members – Thanks Henry.

To view further details regarding the Access Inquiry please visit the Conwy Valley Fisheries & Conservation Association Webspace:

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.

With thanks for all your support

Your Campaign Team