News from both Fish Legal the Pollution fighters and the Angling Trust

Help us to Fight Poaching by Eastern European Anglers
Have you been affected by poaching by migrant workers from Eastern Europe? Are you worried that this might happen to your river, stream, canal or stillwater? The Angling Trust's Building Bridges Project wants to hear from YOU so that you can help us produce a multi language leaflet to help address this problem. What do you think it needs to say? We want you to be involved in this; please email Building Bridges Project Officer Radoslaw Papiewski at [email protected]

Eel and Elver Netting and Trapping - Have Your Say
The Angling Trust believes that eel populations are in such a state of crisis that all commercial exploitation should be suspended until populations recover and more is known about this mysterious fish. Anglers are legally required to catch and release all eels and we believe that it is nonsensical for a fish which is listed as a CITES Red List Endangered Species, IUCN Red list Species, UKBAP Priority Species, Special Areas of Conservation Species and Natural England Species of Principal Importance to be commercially exploited. The EA has launched a consultation HERE and we encourage all of our members to respond to the trapping and netting of a fish whose European populations have crashed to just 5% of their former level. Eels are a vital part of healthy fisheries and an important source of food for otters and cormorants. Their decline therefore increases predation pressure on other fish.

Our Rivers - Write to the Minister!
Many voices are harder to ignore, so we are asking you to write to the Minister responsible for water, Richard Benyon, asking him to safeguard our rivers for the future. It only takes a minute so do it NOW!

Waltonians Compensated After Tonnes of Tailings Dumped in Derbyshire Derwent
The Waltonian Angling Club has welcomed the settlement of their legal case against Glebe Mines Ltd after their stretch of the River Derwent in the Peak District was engulfed by tonnes of quarry "tailings". The Angling Trust's legal arm (Fish Legal) has been working on this case for four years

Environment Agency Confirm Sewage is Polluting Protected Welsh Lake
A report, commissioned by the Environment Agency, on Llyn Padarn in Llanberis, North Wales has concluded that sewage is to blame for the decline in water quality. This confirms what lawyers from Fish Legal have been saying for years: that too much sewage is getting into the lake and much of it is untreated. The Environment Agency has until now been reluctant to admit that sewage pollution was the main cause, blaming natural processes and climate change instead.
Fish Legal welcomes the recommendations to prevent further damage to the lake - but is concerned that the Agency will not follow through with the necessary changes by forcing Dwr Cymru to stop the harmful discharges from continuing

River Ellen Anglers Compensated for Pollution
Three Cumbrian angling clubs have received compensation from the First Milk and Cheese Company Limited ("First Milk") after chemicals spilled out of its Aspatria creamery in June 2008. The clubs were represented by Fish Legal, the legal arm of the Angling Trust, who claimed damages on their behalf..

Poaching and the Law
Fish Legal is collaborating with the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NCWU) in raising Police awareness of poaching and associated offences in England and Wales. Fish Legal has identified some uncertainty from officers about what constitutes poaching in fisheries and which public authority should deal with it. NWCU has agreed to circulate a Fish Legal information sheet to its network of officers. It is hoped that this will assist in tackling poaching and ensuring that more people who commit this offence face prosecution.

Information Commissioner to keep a Watchful Eye on N.Ireland Environment Agency
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) - a body which looks into compliance with freedom of information and data protection - has criticised the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) for long and excessive delays in responding to information requests. After a devastating pollution of the Sixmile Water in County Antrim in March 2008 - one of several which had hit the river that year - angling and environmental organisation Fish Legal asked the NIEA (part of the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland) for details of their investigation of the pollution. The request was for the entire case file, which included documents relating to a failed prosecution of the suspected polluter.