Thursday 30 August 2012

Severn salmon anglers meet with the Environment Agency to discuss catch and release.


The latest River Severn Report in Trout and Salmon magazine reported on the story that the Environment Agency appeared to be moving towards pushing for 100% compulsory catch and release. 

'Earlier this summer EA officers from Wales and the Midlands along with the Severn Rivers Trust met to discuss salmon stocks on the river Severn. No representatives of salmon anglers on the river attended this meeting. In fact none were invited! At this meeting a decision seems to have been made to demand that anglers return 90% of the salmon they catch, or face the imposition of 100% compulsory catch and release. The immediate target was to be what they see as ‘excessive’ levels of exploitation on the upper river.

Tony Bostock, Chief Executive of the Severn Rivers Trust, sent in this report of the meeting:

‘With compulsory catch & release now implemented on the Wye we are under growing pressure to increase voluntary catch & release in the Severn catchment and the Severn Rivers Trust have agreed with the EA promote a campaign to increase the catch & release of Salmon in the Severn catchment. We believe the warning is abundantly clear, if the catch & release of Salmon in the Severn catchment does not increase substantially compulsory catch & release will be introduced.’  

Salmon anglers were very surprised by this apparent change of direction and so an urgent meeting between the agency and salmon angling interests was organised.

This meeting took place last night and the outcome appears to have been very positive.

Charles Crundwell from the EA made it very clear that the EA are not talking about compulsory catch and release as an option and affirmed that their current analysis of salmon stocks would not justify it.

In turn the anglers present made it clear that they would seek to promote voluntary catch and release alongside the agency and put forward a number of proposals to that effect.

Perhaps the most important development however, was the formation yesterday of the Severn Salmon Anglers Conservation Association (SSACA) which is to be the representative body for salmon anglers within the Severn catchment. The SSACA was formed at a meeting attended by representatives of angling clubs and salmon fisheries from as high up river as Newtown in mid Wales to Tewkesbury on the tidal reaches. It already has the full support of the major salmon fisheries and clubs on the river including two of the biggest angling clubs in the world: the Birmingham Anglers Association and the Prince Albert Angling Society.  

The aims of the SSACA are:

To protect and conserve the Atlantic Salmon population of the River Severn
To promote the values of game angling
To provide a voice for salmon anglers in the management of the River Severn salmon fishery and to represent salmon angling interests in meetings and discussions with the Environment Agency.

At the meeting between the anglers and the EA, which was very ably chaired by Dan Kawczynski MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham and a PPS in DEFRA, it was agreed that in future the agency will meet with and consult the SSACA on matters relating to the salmon fishery.

The SSACA have elected an interim committee and officers.

I’ll publish a more detailed account of the meeting with the EA including minutes as they become available.