The focus of the court case is on habitats that are protected by law and known as Natura 2000 sites (1). They include national treasures like Poole Harbour and the Rivers Avon, Wye & Eden, where pollution is having a harmful impact on species that should thrive in these habitats. The UK government is required by law to take all the necessary steps to ensure they are at good health by December 2015, but it is not going to achieve this (2).

This is because current action is not sufficient to tackle the scale of the problem. To protect these special habitats adequately, WWF, the Angling Trust and Fish Legal want the government to use all the tools at its disposal to ensure these precious places are properly protected and restored for people and wildlife.

This would include Water Protection Zones (WPZs), which were identified by the Environment Agency in 2009 as its preferred tool to reduce pollution if voluntary measures were not successful. (3)

David Nussbaum, Chief Executive, WWF-UK, said:
"The health of our rivers and lakes is one of the most critical concerns for WWF-UK, the Angling Trust and Fish Legal. Not only are they vital for important species such as Atlantic salmon, bullhead fish, bittern and kingfisher, but they are also important for recreational activities such as fishing, walking and birdwatching, which provide a vital income for rural communities.

"We are calling on the government to use the tools at its disposal to tackle the issue. We hope this legal action will lead to a rethink of the approach of the government and Environment Agency so that we can see real improvements in these precious places."

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive for the Angling Trust and Fish Legal, said:
"Poor land management is causing soils carrying nutrients and pesticides to wash into our precious rivers, seriously harming some of our most important fish species, such as Atlantic salmon, stocks of which have plummeted in recent years. This pollution is not only bad for fish and wildlife, but also anglers who contribute billions to the economy every year.

"We must ensure the necessary measures are in place to stop this pollution, and give our rivers and lakes a chance to recover and thrive."

Now that permission for Judicial Review has been granted, the case will proceed to court later in the year. If successful, and its actions are found to be unlawful, the government will have to identify the regulatory steps necessary to tackle pollution affecting these areas.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Anglers, environmental groups and river users joined Ministers and business leaders in celebrating the news - recognising that the Thames Tideway Tunnel is needed urgently to tackle the issue of discharges of untreated sewage into the river and ensure the capital's sewerage system is fit for the 21st century. The tidal Thames is home to more than 120 species of fish, tens of thousands of which have perished in recent decades in periodic pollution incidents including the catastrophic 450,000 ton sewage overflow of June 2011 which affected West London and caused a major fish kill.

See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13693265

On Monday, Bazalgette Tunnel Limited, a new special-purpose company appointed to take the project forward, received its licence from Ofwat as a new regulated utilities business, separate from Thames Water. At the same time, Thames Water announced a much lower than predicted cost of the project to customers. The company's current average household bill for water and wastewater of around £370 per year is now expected to remain at that level, before inflation, until at least 2020.

The Angling Trust has been working hard with local angling and environmental groups, including our colleagues in the Thames Angler's Conservancy, to press for the Tunnel to be be built as soon as possible.

Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust said:
"Anglers have been at the forefront of the campaign for a cleaner river and an end to the fish kills that have blighted this great and improving tideway. As the national governing body for recreational fishing the Angling Trust was proud to a founder member of the Thames Tunnel Now coalition that pressed for the building of this much needed 'Supersewer' and we are delighted that is finally going ahead."

Martin Baggs, CEO of Thames Water, said:
"It's no exaggeration to say this is a truly momentous day for London and the River Thames. I want to thank everyone who has played a part in getting us this far. It's a historic achievement and I look forward to supporting Bazalgette Tunnel Limited in ensuring the project is delivered safely, on time and to budget. The strong competition for both construction and financing has driven down costs for our more than five million bill payers.

"Our current annual bills already include £7 for the tunnel and this will eventually rise to a total of £20 to £25, before inflation. This is sharply down from the original maximum estimate of £70 to £80 set four years ago. The really good news is that cheaper finance and other efficiencies mean that this hugely important piece of national infrastructure can be built while keeping our bills at or around their current level, before inflation, for at least the next five years."

Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said:
"The Thames Tideway Tunnel will be a fantastic example of world leading British engineering at its best. It will also boost economic growth across the capital, generate more than 9,000 jobs and bring huge benefits to the natural environment by protecting the Thames from sewage.

"Today's announcement brings us one step closer to finally modernising London's ageing sewerage system. In the 21st century, the most dynamic city in the world should not have a river that is polluted by sewage every time there is heavy rainfall."

Andy Mitchell, CEO at 'Tideway', the delivery organisation for the Thames Tideway Tunnel, now owned by Bazalgette Tunnel Limited, added:
"Our task over the next seven years is quite simply to make sure London has a sewerage system capable of meeting the capital's modern-day needs. Everyone in the team is excited and can't wait to get started.

"It's not just about cleaning up the river, important though that is. Nor is it just about building a tunnel. It's about making sure we transform the River Thames, making it central to the capital's wider social and economic well-being. This is a once in a generation opportunity and we are determined to raise the bar in every way, not least the way we treat local communities potentially most directly affected by construction works.

"Through our commitment to remove excavated materials by barge, the opportunity to rejuvenate the river as a transport artery will be a particular focus for us."

The Thames Tideway Tunnel will stem the flows from the 34 'combined sewer overflows' (CSOs) identified by the Environment Agency as the most polluting. The £4.2 billion project will connect up with the Lee Tunnel. This has already been constructed by Thames Water to take wastewater otherwise destined for the river to Beckton sewage works, East London, from early in 2016.

Along with Thames Water's recent expansion of the five sewage treatment works on the tidal Thames, the two tunnels will greatly reduce the 39 million tonnes of untreated sewage that currently overflow into the tidal River Thames via CSOs in a typical year.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

Conditions were far from ideal with a band of high pressure to begin with bringing with it very hot and humid weather. Later on in the afternoon, thunderstorms from off the continent rolled in with torrential rain resulting in a very wet finish for competing anglers.

Pairs Result:

Winning pair on the day were Mega Match This finalist, Peter Upperton (Middy) and partner, Rob Taylor (Daiwa Dorking). Both anglers managed to top their respective sections giving them an impressive two point score overall and cumulative weight of 222-05-00 to confirm a comfortable victory. The result was particularly significant for Pete Upperton, who will now go into this year's Mega Match This final having won one of Larford's Premier events, and from off the Match lake to boot!

Finishing in second place with a slim weight advantage over third placed pair were Perry Stone (Spro / Yorkshire Bait) and fellow Yorkshire Baits rod, Rob Hitchins. Perry Stone achieved a single point from peg 4 on the Arena lake weighing in a level 85lbs of carp taken late on to maggot down his edge with partner Rob managing a respectable 4th in section from peg 66 on Specimen lake. This gave the pair a cumulative five point score and a total weight of 124-15-00 to finish narrowly ahead of Aiden Mansfield and Mark Malin.

Aiden and Mark also managed a five point score with Aid picking up three points from end peg 66 on the Match lake coupled with Mark's two point score from peg 80 on the Specimen lake. Aid caught most of his fish down his edge to weigh in 60-04-00 with partner Mark catching well on the pellet waggler. The two ended the day with a cumulative weight of 121-13-00 to secure a main frame finish and £500.
 

Individual Result:

Picking up individual honours on the day was Middy's Kieron Rich. Kieron drew peg 22 on the Speci burr bank and opted to fish the majority of his match with pole and pellet up in the water to end proceedings with an impressive haul tipping the scales a shade over one hundred and thirty pounds at 133-02-00.

Finishing close behind in second place was Daiwa Dorking's Rob Taylor. Rob drew peg 44 on the Speci chalet bank and caught late on down his edge with meat to weigh in 131-01-00.

Third placed individual on the day was Ryan Lidgard. Ryan drew peg 52 on the Speci chalet bank and caught on pole and pellet up in the water for the durtation of the match to weigh in 123-06-00.

Source: Larford Lakes

The finalists will take part in a random draw on Thursday evening to determine their peg for day one of the two day final, drawing chronologically in the order from which they qualified. The draw for day two will take place on Friday evening with anglers drawing randomly in the order in which they finished on day one, the angler finishing in 1st place on day one will draw first down to the angler in 16th place drawing last.

The move follows feedback from anglers who voiced their concerns over the proposed change to the draw system that would have allowed anglers to hand pick their peg for Saturdays all important second day.

Ben Thompson, Angling Trust said:

“the recent announcement detailing the changes to format and structure have been well received on the whole, more opportunities to enter and increased prize money, however feedback highlighted some unease in regards to the draw process and we have acted with our colleagues at Matchroom Sport to address those concerns. With over 2,000 extra tickets available than in previous years, £50,000 to the winner and £10,000 to the runner up, we expect Fish 'O' Mania XXIII to be the biggest and most exciting to date.”

Details of Fish 'O' Mania XXIII including dates and venues will be available at www.anglingtrust.net/fishomania towards the end of 2015. The competition is open to Angling Trust members only and entry will remain at £25 per qualifier. To join the Angling Trust from just £2.50 a month visit www.anglingtrust.net/membership

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The National Junior Canal Championship is being organised by the Canal & River Trust, the charity that cares for 2,000 miles of the nation’s historic waterways, in partnership with the Angling Trust. The competition is open to anyone aged between 12 and 16 with the winner taking home the top prize and being crowned national champion. 

The match is taking place on 24 October on the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal at Curdworth.

The youngsters will be able to gain inspiration from some of the best anglers in the country as the National Canal Pairs Championship is also taking place in Curdworth on the same day.

John Ellis, national fisheries & angling manager for the Canal & River Trust said;

“This is a great opportunity for young anglers to show us what they can do. Canal fishing is the ultimate test of skill and to be crowned the UK’s National Junior Canal Angling Champion will be a fantastic honour for any junior angler.

“Canals are great for young anglers, they’re easily accessible, low cost and full of fish so there’s nowhere better for them to hone their skills. 

“We want to inspire more young people to have a go at angling and competitions like this are a great way of doing that. The match also gives a great opportunity for the competitors to see some of the country’s best senior anglers up close and maybe take a few tips home. With a bit of luck they may be in that position in a few years’ time which is a really exciting prospect.”

David Kent from the Angling Trust said;

“Many of our top international anglers, past and present, cut their teeth on canals. England consistently ranks around No 1 in the world and so it is vital that there is a continuous flow of talented youngsters coming through to ensure that Team England retains and even improves its world ranking. 

“This is a great opportunity for our young anglers to, perhaps, experience fishing in a national competition for the first time and, hopefully, go on to greater things.  However it is vitally important that they enjoy the occasion and I’m sure that they will.”   

The championship is free to enter with 50 spaces available and bookings can be made through the Angling Trust by emailing sandra.drew@anglingtrust.net or telephoning 0115 9061 301 for an entry form

Source: Angling Trust

Venue: River Ouse in Newhaven

Date: Saturday August 29th

Time: 9.00-9.15 until mid-afternoon

Meeting Point: Denton Island in Newhaven

Booking: By email in advance to sussexregion@anglingtrustsussexmarine.net

Different tactics/methods will be discussed and demonstrated to Angling Trust members from all three disciplines of our sport.

You will get expert tuition and will come away having learned more about this hard fighting and elusive species, and the best tackle, tips and tricks to catch them. The Masterclass will be of equal interest to coarse, sea and game anglers because methods and tackle from each discipline can be used. So come along and find out how existing skills and equipment can be put into practice, or learn a completely new approach...

The Masterclass is FREE and open to paid-up Angling Trust individual members only.

This email has been sent to members only in our Sussex Marine Region. If you would like to bring a non-member with you they must join up first by calling 01568 620 447 or online at www.anglingtrust.net/join before you book your place.

There are limited spaces and this is going to be a very popular event so pre-booking your place in advance is essential by emailing sussexregion@anglingtrustsussexmarine.net

Please include your membership number (printed on your Angling Trust membership card) in your booking email.

For more information on the National Mullet Club please go to: www.thenationalmulletclub.org

If you are an Angling Trust club contact: Please forward this email on to your club members and encourage them to join as individual members - thanks.

Source: Angling Trust

This year 17 teams representing various fishing companies put on a great display for their respected sponsors on Saturday 15th August. Although the complex had been fishing brilliantly everyone knew that after the excessive rainfall and atmospheric conditions that now prevailed it was going to be a fishing match and not a catching match. That’s exactly how it turned out and it led to a very close finish.

Almost every team had at least one low section-positioning member including the top three teams and it turned out to be a tie on points for two of the teams. Frenzee Match Catch and Pino’s Pals both tied on 38 points. A count back on weight just gave Pino’s Pals victory for the 2015 Team Title.

It was equally close for the top individuals with only 1lb separating Jase Brown and Warren Martin both next to each other on Uglies Glebe Pool 3. Warren just ahead with 216 lbs 8oz with Jase on 215 lbs 8oz.

After the event everyone had a great meal and possibly the best raffle in the industry with 130 prizes to be won.
Roy Marlow Fishery owner and organiser thanked all the anglers for supporting this fantastic event and the Angling Trust.

Roy commented “Without the Angling Trust and Fish Legal all of us would not have such fantastic fishing everywhere in this country.”

Thank you to Mallory Park Fisheries and Marukyu who provided the trophies to sponsor the event.

TEAM RESULTS
1st PINO’S PALS  38 POINTS
2nd FRENZEE MATCH CATCH 38 POINTS
3RD DAIWA 43 POINTS

SECTION WINNERS
JAMIE HAWKINS PINO’S PALS   160.02
ANDY POWER  S.W MATCH GROUP  119.04
WARREN MARTIN GARBOLINO MATRIX 216.08
JOHN WHINCUP FRENZEE MATCH CATCH 122.04
ANDY OLDHAM  FRENZEE MATCH CATCH 120.08
WAYNE IBBOTSON MARUKYU RED   88.04

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

16 nations descended on the Smederevo Steelworks Canal in Serbia over the 7th & 8th August to fish the 20th FIPS-ed U18 World Championships. England would go head to head with 2014 champions France and the 3rd place Poland and the trio once again found themselves jostling for a podium finish with host nation Serbia also in the running.

Steve Sanders, Sensas U18s Team Manager stated; “England’s performance was a stunning victory after losing most of one of the weeks practice days because of floating weed preventing them practising properly.  The team plan came together on the last practice day on Thursday with a combination of carp early in the match being the target followed by a switch to small fish tactics after the first 30 minutes.

On day one this tactic worked brilliantly with England having 3 carp in the first 30 minutes in different sections.  Switching to small fish cemented their positions and England finished the day with a score of 14 points on the first day with France on 18 in second, Poland on 22 in third and Portugal and Italy in equal 4th place with 24.”

The second day was always going to be a very, very tight match with the French, Polish and Italians fishing an out and out small fish match and Portugal fishing a wholly big fish match, England stuck to fishing the combination match they fished on the first day.  A superb day two performance by host nation Serbia saw them score 6 points and drag themselves into the bronze medal position with a total of 46 points.  The tussle between England and France see-sawed all day with neither side knowing the final result at the end of the match, but England’s tactic of fishing for big fish and being selective when fishing for the small fish resulted in France having 19 points on the second day and England scoring 21 points to give England a 2 point victory over the two day competition.

England’s Sensas U18’s have an incredible record at the World Championship in recent years, since 2011 England have won two team gold and three team silver medals with a number of individual accolades following, the latest of which 17 year old George Organ from Gloucester who’s 7 points over two days was enough to secure individual bronze. 

Top 6 Team Results:

1st England 35 points
2nd France 37 points
3rd Serbia 46 points
4th Poland 46 points
5th Portugal 49 points
6th Italy 50 points

For Drennan Team England’s U23s it was a very difficult match with teams aiming to catch a carp in the first half an hour or fish for the small fish for the full match.  There were few fish between the 10/12gm and carp of 1.5 -3 Kilo.

Mark Downes, Drennan U23s Team Manager said “We elected to take the carp route initially….we only hooked one, it was lost. Belgium took 3 carp in that time and ran out easy winners on day 1 with 19 points . France as usual just fished for small fish and finished 3rd with 22.  After the initial 40 minutes or so it was catch up for our team and being so many small fish behind it was difficult. As the end of the match approached we had to try to catch a carp in the last 30 minutes …again no joy.

Apart from Rory Jones who had 1 carp and 2 kilo of small fish the rest of the team fell between a rock and a hard place!  With England on 40 points and Belgium on 19 we had to be aggressive and we decided to fish for carp on day 2. We needed at least 3 catches and we needed a very low score to secure a medal.  After 1 hour there was just one carp in the first 2 ½ sections and now we were much too far behind to make any difference with small fish.

Hindsight is a great thing but had we concentrated on small fish for the full duration we could have secured a bronze, but this is not our mentality.  We were not as good as the French on the small fish so we needed a combination of both tactics to win and we couldn’t achieve that.  The lads worked tirelessly in the 38 degree heat all week, and it was a shame they did not get the rub of the green they deserved. Full credit must go to the team for their perseverance and dedication, hopefully this will be rewarded next year in Portugal.”

Top 6 Team Results:

1st France 42.5 points
2nd Belgium 45 points
3rd Spain 58 points
4th Italy 58.5 points
5th Czech Republic 65 points
6th Croatia 68 points

10th England 87.5 points

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

The three key overarching priorities of the contract are to increase participation amongst existing and new anglers, tackle illegal angling and manage a fund to improve angling facilities. The contract will run for up to 4 years and is currently worth £1 million a year, although the value of the future contract may vary, depending on rod licence sales.

Key elements of the contract include:

• providing expert advice to clubs and fishery owners on how to identify and secure additional funding
• improving facilities at fisheries and clubs for anglers
• encouraging take-up among junior anglers and address the recent decline in this age group
• retaining and recruiting more anglers to go fishing
• exploring options to develop the voluntary bailiff scheme which has been piloted in the South East
• working with enforcement partners (including the police), club and fishery owners to clamp down on angling-related rural crime.

Sarah Chare, Environment Agency head of fisheries, said:

“This contract marks a new era in how the Environment Agency will deliver our fisheries duties.  By contracting and working with partners we will secure the best future for angling by playing to strengths and making rod licence income go further.  It is what anglers deserve. We are delighted to be working with the Angling Trust on this endeavour.”

Mark Lloyd, chief executive of the Angling Trust, said:

“We are thrilled to have been awarded this contract and our ambition is to go above and beyond the requirements of the contract wherever possible.  Both organisations are committed to protecting and improving freshwater angling by tackling the issues identified by anglers as part of the National Angling Strategy.  The Angling Trust offers a very cost-effective way of delivering this work because of our extensive network and unique access to match funding.”

The contract has match funding clauses meaning that rod licence money goes further and the best possible service and value for anglers is delivered, for example through working with Sport England.

Advertised through the Official Journal of the European Union, interested organisations expressed initial interest earlier this year. Applicants were then asked to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire to ensure they were suitable to be formally invited to tender for the work.

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News

ANGLING TRUST INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 2015 - GLOUCESTER CANAL

The 172 strong field in Saturday's (1st August) Angling Trust Individual National Championship faced a strong wind that made good pole presentation very difficult so the match was mainly a feeder affair for most.

However, that didn’t put off David Cooper from Cambridge, as an unproductive start to his match on the feeder saw him switch to the pole at 13m and he never looked back as a succession of bream up to 6lb graced his net for the remainder of the match.

Drawn on peg 631, the upstream end peg on the Cambridge Arms stretch, David fished worm over groundbait to amass 16.570Kg and record a narrow victory and the title of National Individual Champion 2015.

Matt Godfrey from Sheffield was hot on his heals with a 15.950Kg net of skimmers and roach taken on maggot and groundbait feeder on peg 178 which was also an upstream end peg above Rea Bridge.  Kevin Lavelle from Kirkby wasn’t far behind either weighing 14.450Kg of bream and eels from peg 47 on Hempstead Bend, fishing worm and groundbait feeder.

Andre Grandjean, Angling Trust Event Manager, said:

"It’s going to be hard going for some fishing next week’s Division 1 National as there were a few barren areas so everyone will be praying to draw on some bream which are feeding well at the moment. We would like to thank Mark Treasure and his team for organising such a smooth running match."

Source: Angling Trust Fishing News