Phil Ellis, a Scottish Borders ghillie who has expanded his role to include extensive conservation of the river environment, has been awarded the 2024 Tweed Forum River Champion Award. The prestigious annual accolade is now in its ninth year and is presented by the Borders environmental charity to an individual with an outstanding commitment to […]
Borders Ghillie Phil Ellis Wins 2024 Tweed Forum River Champion Award
England’s largest fish pass has been officially opened in Nottinghamshire
The biggest fish pass in England has opened up the River Trent. The Environment Agency’s £12m flagship project in the Colwick Country Park opened on Friday 8 November 2024 by Chair of the Environment Agency, Alan Lovell. It opens up the River Trent and its tributaries for migratory fish, including salmon, trout and eels, making […]
Angling dream fulfilled as catch of a lifetime wins Mary prestigious Malloch Trophy
All anglers dream of capturing the fish of a lifetime and to have its fulfilment acknowledged by the presentation of a prestigious trophy certainly adds to the achievement. Mary Deakin from Lower Langford, Somerset, was fishing on the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders when she captured a monstrous salmon, weighing 31 pounds. In fact, […]
Angling Trust welcomes IUCN’s assessment of Atlantic salmon
The Angling Trust is a member of the Missing Salmon Alliance (MSA) and together we have welcomed the new International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classification for Atlantic salmon, including listing the majority of the UK’s populations as endangered. This change in conservation status is supported by the research and work of members of […]
Fish Legal prosecutes Southern Water over River Test pollution
Southern Water, which provides water and wastewater for East Kent, parts of Sussex, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight, is facing a private prosecution for polluting the River Test in Hampshire. Environmental organisation Fish Legal last week served summons on the water company at its head office in Worthing. The charges relate to pollution entering […]
Government and Environment Agency face High Court challenge over Yorkshire River pollution
Next week, the High Court will hear a judicial review of Government and Environment Agency decision-making that anglers claim has failed to stop two decades of pollution at Costa Beck, a small, spring-fed river in North Yorkshire. The legal challenge, being brought by Fish Legal on behalf of Pickering Fishery Association, is focused on updated, […]
Environment Agency warns of invasive Pacific pink salmon threat to UK rivers
The Environment Agency has warned of the threat of invasive Pacific pink salmon and urged anglers to report catches or sightings of invasive pink salmon, which are expected to appear in UK waters this year. In 2019 and 2021, there were numerous sightings of invasive pink salmon in UK waters and – with pink salmon […]
How is your rod licence money spent?
The Environment Agency (EA) has released its Fisheries Annual Report for 21/22 which details how and where fishing licence income is spent. During the financial year 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022 the EA sold 934,760 fishing licences which generated an income of £21,854,093. So how has this income helped promote fishing? The report […]
Angling Trust and Environment Agency reopen fund to help control invasive species and increase biosecurity
The Angling Improvement Fund (AIF) reopens on Friday, 14 April, for funding towards projects involved in tackling the spread of invasive non-native species and measures to increase biosecurity at angling venues. The AIF is administered by the Angling Trust and is just one of the ways the Environment Agency is reinvesting income from fishing licence […]
Gathering the Public and Thought Leaders Together at The UK River Summit
The public is invited to the first UK River Summit, hosted on the banks of the River Test on 13th June 2023. The event brings together some of the country’s most influential environmental speakers and experts to talk about the state of our rivers in the UK and the action needed. Beginning at 9:30 am, […]
Angling Trust: Government Water Plan will fall short without money for enforcement against polluters
The Angling Trust has welcomed the publication of the Government’s Plan for Water but warned that it will fall short without a reversal of the decade long programme of cuts to the Environment Agency’s enforcement and pollution control budgets. The Plan for Water which was launched today (April 4) contains mix of commitments, plans and […]
Environmental Regulators in Northern Ireland under Investigation for River Crumlin running dry – video
Fish Legal has referred environmental regulators in Northern Ireland to the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) for failing to protect migratory fish including salmon, dollaghan and brown trout on the Crumlin River which flows into Lough Neagh. The OEP has confirmed that the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and Northern Ireland Environment […]
£150,000 available as Angling Trust and Environment Agency reopen funding to help tackle fish predation
The Angling Improvement Fund (AIF) has reopened for funding towards projects tackling the impacts of predation by otters and non-migratory fish-eating birds. The AIF is administered by the Angling Trust and is just one of the ways the Environment Agency is reinvesting income from fishing licence sales in projects which benefit anglers across England. £150,000 […]
Poole Harbour oil spill could have serious consequences for threatened migratory fish, say GWCT experts
UK wide conservation organisation the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), has today highlighted it’s serious concerns over the impact of the 200-barrel fluid leak into Poole Harbour on protected migratory fish. The GWCT operates the Salmon & Trout Research Centre on the River Frome at East Stoke, Dorset which has been monitoring the salmon […]
New report finds UK salmon stocks reaching crisis
• 37 of the 42 salmon rivers (88%) in England now categorised as being ‘at risk’ or ‘probably at risk’. • Rising sea and river temperatures due to climate change damaging salmon stocks globally • Stocks can respond to intervention with the EA calling for coordinated action to aid recovery Wild Atlantic salmon stocks are […]
