The Anglers’ Conservation Association (ACA) has secured £7,590 in compensation on behalf of the Bradshaw Flyfishers Club, the Pendle Burnley and District Anglers and the Ribble Catchment Conservation Trust in three separate cases.
The ACA acted for the Pendle Burnley and District Anglers concerning a number of pollution incidents which led to four foot deep foam covering the surface of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Burnley leading to significant fish kills on waters leased by the PBDA. After an ACA application to Court to compel the disclosure of information by both McBrides (a local detergent manufacturer) and United Utilities, McBrides has agreed to pay £7,845 in costs and damages without admission of liability. The Environment Agency had earlier failed to gather sufficient evidence to bring a criminal prosecution for any of the three pollution events.
The ACA has also acted for the Bradshaw Flyfishers in relation to the illegal shutting off of compensation flows from the Jumbles Reservoir which damaged the wild brown trout populations in the Bradshaw Brook below the reservoir. United Utilities made a payment of £1,000 to the club to settle the claim.
On the Ribble, abattoir owners Dunbia Limited made a payment to the Ribble Catchment Conservation Trust in lieu of a claim for damages brought by the ACA on behalf of the Yorkshire Flyfishers Club, who kindly waived their claim following the pollution of the Ribble with abattoir waste to benefit the Trust and the whole river system.
Mark Lloyd, Executive Director at the ACA said:
“Although these settlements are relatively small compared to the hundreds of thousands the ACA can win in legal cases for its members, they demonstrate that even when the Environment Agency is unable to prosecute polluters, the ACA can play a unique and valuable role in securing compensation for angling clubs and fishery owners whose waters are damaged. All they pay is the annual membership fee – the ACA does the rest.”
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• The ACA was founded in 1948 with the purpose of using the law to fight to protect the aquatic environment and fisheries.
• Since that time, the ACA has won in excess of two thousand cases and recovered many millions of pounds in damages, which is returned to the members the ACA represents to plough back into angling and the protection of the aquatic environment.
• Throughout our history, we have lost only three cases at trial. At any one time, we typically have about fifty to sixty cases running and give clubs and anglers legal advice across the entire range of angling matters.
• Clubs or riparian owners wishing to join the ACA should phone 01568 620447 during office hours or download a subscription form from the web site: www.a-c-a.org
• The ACA’s Annual Report is available on request.
• Contact point: Mark Lloyd (Director).
