A little bit of tidying up.

[Stephen Crowhurst]

That is shocking, looks like a tank battalion has been through. The environmental damage done there, not just to the aquatic environment but the terrestrial which would have been a corridor for wildlife. Have you considered speaking to your MP and local wildlife groups for added support?

 

[Stephen Walker]

That is shocking, looks like a tank battalion has been through. The environmental damage done there, not just to the aquatic environment but the terrestrial which would have been a corridor for wildlife. Have you considered speaking to your MP and local wildlife groups for added support?

The ironic thing is,that on the opposite bank of the river it’s the Idle Valley nature reserve,where beavers have been introduced.
But a few meters across the river nature can be destroyed.
I‘m going to a meeting on Tuesday,so I’ll mention your suggestions Stephen.

 

[Ian Grant]

I've said it before, anglers everywhere need to unite, and refuse to pay the EA rod license, the money we would pay should go to a fighting fund to pay the fines of those prosecuted, this is wanton criminal vandalism sanctioned by a Government office, we could make our voice heard if we all stuck together, trouble is we won't

 

[Mike Hodgkiss]

Anglers,particular coarse anglers are a disparate and frankly largely apathetic group, historically poor at putting together a unified voice of protest .In theory the Angling Trust should be our voice , however ,as I understand it some of their funding comes from the EA so they aren't going to advocate a boycott of paying our fishing licences . Other than BFW I don't participate much in any other online forums ,the only thing that seems to get people really going on BFW and elsewhere are moans about otter and cormorant predation ,there are many more comments on threads about which landing net pole ,rod or fishing chair than on topics such as pollution and habitat destruction . I think this is symptomatic of peoples utter lack of faith in governments / politicians ability to actually do anything about these matters . As for the EA , I reported a recent spill of diesel in to the Yorkshire Ouse , I asked for them to report back the outcome and spent several hours trying to find its source , I heard nothing ....

 

[Paul Bullinger]

Anglers,particular coarse anglers are a disparate and frankly largely apathetic group, historically poor at putting together a unified voice of protest .In theory the Angling Trust should be our voice , however ,as I understand it some of their funding comes from the EA so they aren't going to advocate a boycott of paying our fishing licences . Other than BFW I don't participate much in any other online forums ,the only thing that seems to get people really going on BFW and elsewhere are moans about otter and cormorant predation ,there are many more comments on threads about which landing net pole ,rod or fishing chair than on topics such as pollution and habitat destruction . I think this is symptomatic of peoples utter lack of faith in governments / politicians ability to actually do anything about these matters . As for the EA , I reported a recent spill of diesel in to the Yorkshire Ouse , I asked for them to report back the outcome and spent several hours trying to find its source , I heard nothing ....

I have to agree with your observation about us anglers being a disparate group but not an apathetic group. All my angling mates care deeply about the environment, fish welfare, predation and the myriad of other threats to our pastime. However, with range of social issues affecting the UK population these days, moaning about willow trees being grubbed out comes a long way down the list of priorities. I am vehemently against this approach. This small scale destruction of our countryside affects everyone and in a negative way. Birdlife is adversely affected as are insects, butterflies, aquatic life...the list goes on. In turn this affects how us humans view our surroundings. Instead of walking by a river teeming with life (both in the water and out of it) you'll be faced with a featureless drain.
Sorry to bang on about it, but I have written to MP's, Water Co's, EA etc etc. Its either a "copy and paste" reply, or no reply.
So, I decided to do "my own thing" and the little Club of which I am Secretary, now has a rolling 5 year plan which is to develop our little fishery into a fishery/ nature reserve. We have enough room for 50 pegs but only have 20. We leave huge areas for the fish to spawn undisturbed. We have a healthy population of grass snakes, slow worms, a pair of resident kingfishers, we have "duck houses" on poles, buzzard fly overhead and we are visited by swallowtail butterflies in the summer.
If fishing in a featureless bowl is your thing that's fine, but our members prefer our little bit of "paradise", even if catching fish is "challenging"!!

 

[Ady Brayshaw]

Anglers,particular coarse anglers are a disparate and frankly largely apathetic group, historically poor at putting together a unified voice of protest .In theory the Angling Trust should be our voice , however ,as I understand it some of their funding comes from the EA so they aren't going to advocate a boycott of paying our fishing licences . Other than BFW I don't participate much in any other online forums ,the only thing that seems to get people really going on BFW and elsewhere are moans about otter and cormorant predation ,there are many more comments on threads about which landing net pole ,rod or fishing chair than on topics such as pollution and habitat destruction . I think this is symptomatic of peoples utter lack of faith in governments / politicians ability to actually do anything about these matters . As for the EA , I reported a recent spill of diesel in to the Yorkshire Ouse , I asked for them to report back the outcome and spent several hours trying to find its source , I heard nothing ....

Mike. Myself, and many others locally to my knowledge, have reported these types of issues to the EA with no response. The only (rapid actually) response I had was to a hydrocarbon release into my local river. Anything else, illegal netting etc gets the ignore treatment.

WRT to the habit destruction at the start of the thread. The EA seem to do this with impunity under the auspices of flood defence. Quite the opposite I would have thought in this case with reduced tree root protection from bank erosion.

 

[Ady Brayshaw]

I've said it before, anglers everywhere need to unite, and refuse to pay the EA rod license, the money we would pay should go to a fighting fund to pay the fines of those prosecuted, this is wanton criminal vandalism sanctioned by a Government office, we could make our voice heard if we all stuck together, trouble is we won't

They had a 'fishing strike' in the Republic of Ireland many years ago, to protest the state, trying to introduce a fishing (tax) licence. It's my understanding that anglers who broke the 'strike', would find their cars trashed, on the more remote loughs. Agreed you wouldn't get 100% agreement in this country. Apathy rules.

 

[Mike Hodgkiss]

Mike. Myself, and many others locally to my knowledge, have reported these types of issues to the EA with no response. The only (rapid actually) response I had was to a hydrocarbon release into my local river. Anything else, illegal netting etc gets the ignore treatment.

WRT to the habit destruction at the start of the thread. The EA seem to do this with impunity under the auspices of flood defence. Quite the opposite I would have thought in this case with reduced tree root protection from bank erosion.

Another aspect of the legalised habitat destruction is the work of the Internal Drainage Boards .On my local river Foss , a tributary of the Yorkshire Ouse , the Foss internal drainage board annually select sections of the river to'' clear'' , this involves dredging the river ,removing ALL weed and bankside cover and then heaping the resultant spoil on the bank and plaining it off .Not that long a go the Foss was recognised nationally as a stronghold for Water Voles ,now they are a rare sight .This improvement is done in the name of flood protection . Amazingly some fish still survive despite the boards good works , not helped by the rampant over abstraction of water for agriculture in summer ,and regularly sanctioned dumps of untreated sewage in to the river in times of high rainfall .Last year thousands of gallons of untreated sewage was dumped through an outfall in to the river as a result of a faulty pump at a sewage works , it took them well over 24 hours to resolve the issue , result ,virtually all fish life wiped out for several miles downstream .