The Agency report that in the region the sale of nearly 250,000 fishing licences in 2011-12 has helped pay for fisheries work with £390k spent last year on projects to improve habitats for fish or provide better facilities for anglers. Money generated from licence sales pays for surveys of fish populations, ensures the Agency can react to calls about fish in distress or illegal incidents and enables free advice to be given to fisheries and angling clubs.
Examples of the projects funded include:
Barbel population investigations have been carried out on the Great Ouse between Bedford and Milton Keynes. Seven key spawning sites were identified and the gravel cleaned and added to. This year barbel have been observed spawning at all the enhanced locations.
The Nene Backwater Project has been progressing to restore natural features and improve the habitat quality of the river by reconnecting historic channels. The latest to be improved was at Chester Farm in Northamptonshire where the de-silting operation will provide a new area for fish and other wildlife.
At Worlingham near Norwich the Agency has worked with the Broads Authority to fund 10 new angling platforms on the River Waveney. These will provide safe and easy access to a popular river for anglers.
In addition to the rod licence income, other funds to improve river fisheries have also been added. An estimated £1.7m additional money has been spent on works such as fish passes that will benefit fish populations and help meet Water Framework Directive requirements.
Roger Handford, Regional fisheries specialist said:
“We hope that anglers venturing onto rivers will be rewarded with improving catches from the efforts of the Environment Agency to address some of the factors affecting fish in our rivers.”
