30/09/2005 - Improved flood
warning and more opportunity for people to
fish and boost the local economy - these are
just two of the benefits the Environment Agency
proposed at the Agency's Board today (Wednesday),
at their meeting held at the Dylan Thomas
Conference Centre in Swansea.
Fish are recognised as a good indicator of
a clean environment and are part of the lifeblood
of our natural environment. People view the
very existence of healthy fish stocks in our
rivers and anglers fishing on the banks as
one of the best indicators of clean rivers,
lakes and coastal waters.
Fish stocks in Wales and England are encouraging,
with numbers increasing in many of our rivers.
There are, however, areas of concern and pressures
and challenges facing fisheries in the future
include;
Climate change – if temperatures, sea level
rise and rainfall patterns change, life cycles
and migration behaviour may be adversely affected
which could be devastating for species which
are already rare such as shad.
Siltation – Silted up stream gravels mean
there are fewer spawning areas for those fish
that prefer fast flowing waters, such as barbel
and dace.
Loss of fly life – over the last 15 years
there has been a fall in the number of river
flies resulting in less food for fish, birds
and mammals with detrimental effects for fisheries
businesses as anglers depend on good numbers
of these for their fishing.
Salmon and freshwater fisheries make important
contributions to local economies. The government’s
recent review showed that it is the economic
and social role of fisheries that distinguishes
the Environment Agency’s fisheries duty from
its more general duty to contribute to the
conservation of other types of wildlife.
Dr Helen Phillips, Director Environment Agency
Wales, said: "We continually want to
find better ways to work with others to be
efficient and effective, to make the best
use of resources available. We will regularly
benchmark how we work and what we do to make
sure we provide a service of the highest quality
when compared to similar organisations in
other countries."
The Board of the Environment Agency meets
around six times a year in public at different
locations around Wales and England. Board
meetings are open to the public to observe.
Details of all Environment Agency Board meetings
can be found on this website, where the full
agenda and papers for today’s meeting can
also be found.
