River dropped 6 inches or so overnight on upper beats but still carrying a lot of colour at hay on wye for instance.   can't imagine there will be much chance on the middle river for at least a couple more days/  As for the lowest beats ?????

View in browser | Your newsletter from Fish Legal Latest news from Fish Legal May, 2021   Fish Legal doubles-down on agricultural pollution While the press concentrates its firepower on water companies for their repeated and uncontrolled pollution of rivers in England and Wales from combined sewage overflows, Fish Legal continues to fight to stop damage to rivers and lakes from agriculture. We currently have seven ongoing cases involving pollution and damage from agricultural practices. These include concentrated poultry farming on the River Wye in England and Wales, anaerobic digester and fertiliser spills, bank damage and dredging on the River Taw in Devon, and (with our partners Angling Trust and WWF) an application to the High Court after Defra and the Environment Agency broke their promise to publish reports on agricultural diffuse pollution of protected sites in England. Fish Legal has been arguing for years now that the Environment Agency needs to enforce against serial polluters and rogue farmers who damage rivers or allow cattle to poach them. But the regulator does little to stop bad practices.  In 2018, Defra introduced the Reduction and Prevention of Agricultural Diffuse Pollution (England) Regulations 2018 (“the Farming Rules”) which were intended to reduce pollution to inland freshwaters. They are currently under review (Defra’s report on their implementation was due last month). It is understood that there have so far been no prosecutions of farmers in England for breaches of these regulation. Wales has now followed up with a more complex equivalent, the “Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021" (“Welsh Rules”) which came into effect in April 2021 to replace the Nitrate Regulations “Nitrate Vulnerable Zones” designations. The Welsh rules are much more detailed with six schedules and a phased roll-out to cover, for instance, details over when and what can be spread on fields. However, some Assembly Members at the Welsh “Senedd” voted unsuccessfully to annul the new regulations and the National Farmers’ Union Cymru has announced that it is launching a legal challenge to them, arguing that it is better to have “farmer-led voluntary initiatives” to stop pollution. But voluntary measures in England alone are not succeeding in reducing agricultural diffuse pollution, which is partly why the rules for farming were introduced. Regulations are just the first step. It remains to be seen what resource and expertise Natural Resources Wales will be dedicating to their enforcement.   Scottish Ministers appeal legal challenge to no-trawl scheme Fish Legal will be defending its members in the Scottish Government’s appeal against a ruling requiring them to reconsider a sustainable fishing pilot in the Inner Sound of Skye.  In January, a judge ruled that Scottish Ministers acted unlawfully in blocking a proposed no-trawler scheme. The case, brought on behalf of the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation (SCFF), was a game changer for the environment and highlighted the positive effects of creel-only inshore fishing of high value Nephrops (langoustine). In parallel, Fish Legal has published a paper confirming that the Scottish Government is deaf to concerns about the damage done by inshore trawling in Scotland.  In 2019, the Scottish Government initiated a consultation process called ‘the Future of Fisheries Management’. The consultation embraced a number of key issues including the use of damaging mobile fishing gear in the inshore. The Fish Legal paper analyses the consultation responses finding overwhelming number of consultees were either neutral or positive about some restrictions on trawling in the inshore. Unfortunately, when the Scottish Government published their new fisheries strategy earlier this year, not only were these concerns ignored, no explanation was given as to why they were ignored. This confirms long held fears that there is too close a relationship between the Scottish Government and the trawl sector.   Click here to read the Fish Legal paper   River Ellen pollution under investigation   The Environment Agency is investigating a pollution on the River Ellen in Cumbria, after anglers noticed intermittent milky green blooms to the river near Aspatria in March. The pollution is in the same stretch of the river as previous pollutions. Fish Legal took First Milk Cheese Company Ltd (who have a large- scale creamery in this area) to court after a chemical pollution in June 2008 killed thousands of wild brown trout, sea trout and salmon and other species including eels, minnows, stone loach and stickleback over a 4km stretch. The Environment Agency continue their investigations which have uncovered the source of the pollution and further details are expected from them once their investigations have concluded.   Planners fail to protect Cumbrian fishery Fish Legal has written to Copeland Borough Council’s Scrutiny Committee asking for an explanation as to how a major housing development in the coastal town of Whitehaven, in Cumbria, was allowed to proceed without a critical plan that would have protected a neighbouring fishery from being polluted with silt. Outline planning permission to build 570 homes at Edgehill Park was granted to Story Homes by the Council in 2014.  However, a Construction Environment Management Plan (CEMP), referred to extensively in the Environmental Statement produced by the developer and a condition of the development going ahead, was never produced.   Sewage pollution by Southern Water continues on Hampshire chalk stream Fish legal is investigating why Southern Water continues to employ a technique known as overpumping to discharge partially treated sewage into a Hampshire chalk stream.  A fishery member has witnessed discharges into the Pill Hill Brook which is a tributary of the River Anton, itself a tributary of the River Test, continuing for months - despite over half a million pounds being spent by the water company between 2014 and 2019 to deal with infiltration problems in the local sewage network. In an lnfiltration Reduction Plan, which the water company is required to submit to the Environment Agency in cases of infiltration into the sewage network, Southern Water stated - “no further repairs are planned at the Pilhill Villages” which suggests that reliance on tankering and overpumping is set to continue indefinitely.   Fish Legal vacancies We are seeking applications for a Fundraising Manager and part-time Legal Administrator. Closing date: Friday, June 4th. Find out more   Please consider making a donation We rely solely on membership income, donations and legacies to fund our work. If you care passionately about fish and their environment and want to help us make polluters pay, please consider making a one-off donation via our website using a credit or debit card by clicking on the link below. If you want to donate regularly, please call 01568 620447. Click to donate   Fish Legal is a membership association using the law to protect fish stocks and the rights of its members throughout the UK. It is united in a collaborative relationship with the Angling Trust, the national representative and governing body for angling in England. Joint membership packages with the Angling Trust are available for individuals, clubs, fisheries and other categories. Click here for more information about membership Angling Trust & Fish Legal, Eastwood House, Rainbow Street, Leominster, HR6 8DQ Telephone: 01568 620447 View in browser | Unsubscribe