phosphates and the trent...

i was told yesterday by a trent fisherman that he had a conversation with the area manager of severn trent this week , it went along the lines of the fact that severn trent authority have received instructions to take all phosphates out of the water being pumped in from such as water treatment centres ????...this instruction has come from the european e.a...

long term this is supposed to encourage such as salmon / trout ...by depleting coarse fish's food supply ???

i dont know how true this is , and if in fact that is what would happen .

comments anybody.??????

Lowland rivers like the Trent are at their best for coarse fish when a gentle trickle of leachate from pasture gets into them. A little nitrate and phosphate from cattle manure gets a bit of algae going and nourishes water plants, both the building blocks of the ecosystem. The downside is often that the algal growth increases turbidity, so its mainly the marginal plants that thrive, but that's the environment in which, for example, Ireland's coarse fishing once thrived.

Stripping phosphate from sewage is a good idea, but in the case of the Trent and many other rivers these days, there's not the grazed pasture there used to be to compensate. The result is likely to be a much clearer Trent in which streambed weeds like rununculus could thrive (where it's shallow enough), I guess.

But we all know waters like these; often more sparsely populated by bigger fish. It depends on who you are as to whether you think this should be beneficial.

so , long term m.t.s .....would you say , in your valued opinion ..if , and it is still a big IF .s.t.water are removing all phosphates , and sorrounding land is not able to contribute to the levels of phosphates etc needed ...this will have a detromental effect on the well being of the coarse fish if the food supply is being depleted ?

It would be impossibe to remove all phosphates andalso a waste of time as there are already massive numbers of Salmon entering the system.

a better use of the money would be to remove or re-engineer some of the manmade obstacles such as wiers that prevent clear passage to fish such as Salmon Seatrout and Shad reaching their spawning grounds.

*Note to all clubs

"Get your hands in your pockets and tie up fishing rights smartish...The Adipose boys will out price you otherwise"