Environment - Restoration & Conservation
Salmon spotted jumping the weirs on the middle reaches of the River Dove are testament to the vision and long term efforts of conservation minded anglers and environmentalists.
'Salmon thrived in the Trent before industrialisation,' but the advent of heavy industry, 'and the resulting pollution caused the population to decline sharply from the mid-1800s up to the Second World War.' The drop in salmon population was reflected in tributaries like the Dove. 'In the 1970s water quality began to improve, and by 1988 the Trent Salmon Restoration Programme commenced.' Today salmon can be seen in the tributaries once again, and the whole drainage is thriving.
The combined efforts of the Environment Agency, the Trent Salmon Trust, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (previously Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries) with policies like the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975, and the Salmon Act 1986, backed up by organisations like the Anglers' Conservation Association are what secure the future of rivers like the Trent. Our aim here is to illustrate these efforts, to support them and to provide a window through which we can all look and learn.
We hope you will enjoy reading about the ongoing efforts of today's anglers to restore and conserve their water courses. This month, Theo Pike continues his column relating the trials and tribulations, the highs and lows of restoring a beautiful chalkstream, the River Wandle.
The news page hosts the latest press releases for conservation and restoration organisations. If you have news to post here please read the invite in the column opposite.
