News

A recent project funded by the Environment Agency and designed and delivered by Andy Thomas of the Wild Trout Trust provides new opportunities for trout and other flow loving species that reside in the lower Thames.

The Abbey stream is an old man-made river channel that leaves the River Thames at Penton Hook and re-joins downstream of Chertsey weir. The weirs and locks on the main river mean that opportunities for flow-loving, gravel spawning fish species, including brown and sea trout are very limited but a recent project completed by the WTT with EA funding and support has not only created spawning habitat but also helped to provide improved migration opportunities.

This project, led by the Environment Agency in partnership with Birdsgrove Fly Fishing Club and WTT, involved the removal of two large weirs on the River Dove in the English Midlands. The Dove is a river with a long history of re-alignment, straightening and weir-building, for land drainage, purportedly to reduce flooding and for fishing. This project set out to restore the longitudinal connectivity of the river, improving sediment transport and habitat connectivity including migration of trout, eels and other coarse fish and to restore the river’s natural processes, physical structure and habitat availability for the ecology to flourish.

Using £15,000 of EA Fisheries Improvement Programme funding, with co-funding from the fishing club and WTT, the project removed two large weirs built in the 1980s as pool-creating angling features.

Photographic monitoring and frequent site visits post-weir removal show clear evidence of habitat availability and variability which was lacking before the work was carried out; various juvenile fish and lampreys have been seen at the work sites. Before the weir removal, the upstream impounded sections were only suitable for adult fish; now, with changes in the habitat, both river reaches provide excellent spawning areas. Fresh new gravels are now transported to the downstream reaches and this will provide new habitat for fish and other organisms. Fixed point photography, time lapse cameras, water level monitoring and habitat mapping is in place to monitor the physical responses of the river after the weir removals.

With so many excellent projects entering the Conservation Awards this year, we are featuring the finalists as well as the winners. 

“Adopt a Tributary” and water quality awareness work across the River Towy has been a project headed by Carmarthenshire Fishermen’s Federation (CFF), representing anglers, angling clubs and riparian owners across rivers in West Wales. The project set out to initiate a Towy-wide “Adopt a Tributary” project and raise awareness of the state of the counties’ waterways. The success of the project has outgrown the voluntary capacity of CFF, with management passing to the West Wales Rivers Trust (WWRT) from summer 2019, formally funded by Welsh Water (WW) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and supported by Afonydd Cymru (AC) and private donations.

CFF remains a lobbying group but, since 2018, has also looked to practical work, including the removal of in-river blockages, fly-tipped waste (including plastic, metal and all sorts of other debris) and invasive plants, especially Himalayan balsam. The scale of the waste that CFF volunteers have encountered is staggering, especially since much of the catchment is rural.

Our photographer, John Sutton, took some excellent photos of the Conservation Awards evening held at the Savile Club in London last week. It was uplifting and inspiring to see so much good work taking place. 

Click this link to the photo album:  https://zenfolio.page.link/vhndA  Password WTT2019HR.Conservation Award Winners details here and the winner of the Bernard Venables Award here.

We present the Bernard Venables Award to recognise those who, voluntarily, have given epic service to wild trout conservation and to WTT and whose vital work, perhaps unusual, sometimes outstanding, often goes unrecognised.

The 2019 winner is Paul Jennings of the River Chess Association.

While Paul’s focus has been on his home river, the Chess in Buckinghamshire, his work and influence (all voluntary) stretches along the rivers of the Chilterns and north London and further to the chalkstreams of Yorkshire. He fights and lobbies for those rivers at many levels: local and national government, regulators, water companies and won changes for the better. On the Chess, he teaches children with learning need how to fish and he leads groups bug hunting in the river; he’s hugely popular with the kids and their teachers.

Around 100 people gathered in the ballroom of the Savile Club on 16 October 2019 in London to celebrate the tremendous contributions of individuals and groups to improving river habitat. It is always an uplifting experience to see the dedication, determination and expertise that is demonstrated in the projects competing for the annual Wild Trout Trust Conservation Awards.

The awards are judged by the Wild Trout Trust team, under the watchful eye of Martin Jaynes of the River Restoration Centre, and presented by Tony Juniper, Chair of Natural England.

WTT’s Director, Shaun Leonard said:

The Darent Valley Trout Fishers, the Environment Agency and the Wild Trout Trust have teamed up to improve two sections of the River Darent near Eynsford.

The most striking element of the enhancement has been to restore a long section of river that previously had sluggish flow, full of soft sediment and choked with emergent burr reeds, as a direct result of excessive dredging work carried out many years ago. A key part of this scheme was also to improve flood plain connectivity, as well as providing habitat capable of supporting flow-loving fish species like trout.

All of us here at the Wild Trout Trust were incredibly saddened to hear about the untimely passing of Tony Donnelly. Those who have visited the River Annan in recent years may remember Tony as the Rivers Trust and Fishery Board Director, where he worked until very recently, before heading north to take up the Director’s role at Cromarty Firth Fishery Board and Trust.

Tony has been a good friend to WTT over the years, and a mate to our staff, supporting our conservation work through project collaborations and guiding lots on the Annan for our auction, which proved ever-popular with bidders. His passion for trout and grayling conservation, in addition to salmon, demonstrated his broad knowledge and understanding of fishery management. Tony was an accomplished fly-tyer and trout, grayling and salmon angler himself and his presence will be sadly missed on the banks of rivers, burns, lakes and lochs around Britain. Our sincerest condolences go to his family.

This a short press release that we put in to the local media in Cambridgeshire, and we were very pleased to see it picked up by them:  

More than 20 volunteers from Barrington and Shepreth added the final touches to a river habitat improvement project delivered at the end of July near to Barrington on the River Shep with over 1000 plants.

The project is led by the Wild Trout Trust, and recent work included 200 tonnes of gravel carefully placed into the river to create new spawning areas for brown trout, minnows and dace. Riverbanks have also been re-graded to create new habitat for water voles, and trees managed bring more light to previously shaded parts of the river.