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LEAPs


Guest Leon Roskilly

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Guest Leon Roskilly

I recently phoned the Environment Agency to ask what was happening about the proposed fish pass which had been mooted for the Medway at Allington, where a sluice marks the change between fresh and salt water (well brackish – there are some good carp and pike on the saltwater side).

 

The reason I’d been asking was that I’d previously written a few letters mustering support for the fish pass in the hope that, amongst the salmon and sea-trout making their way up the estuary to spawn, the rare Allis shad, once common in the Medway could start making a real comeback.

 

That would have far-reaching implications for water quality in the river and in the estuary. It would make the whole river far more important from a biodiversity perspective, and deserving of far greater environmental protection.

 

‘That’s covered in the LEAP’ said the voice at the other end of the phone.

 

‘Eh?’

 

‘I’ll send you a copy.’

 

‘Thump!’ The large brown envelope hit my door mat.

 

A quick flick through revealed a huge amount of environmental information about the whole of the Medway catchment area.

 

I’d reel of some of the section headings, but I wouldn’t know where to start …… or where to end.

 

Suffice to say that the Local Environment Agency Plan, compiled after extensive consultation with local environmental organisations, fishing clubs etc is reviewed on a regular basis, and sets out exactly what directions the EA is heading in locally (It talks about removing exotic species such as carp, from the Medway!)

 

Get one, study it and make sure that you and your club have input to the next review.

 

Phone the EA General Enquiry Line on 0645 333111 (or look in the book for your local area office)

 

Tight Lines - leon

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Guest RobStubbs

Leon,

Am I correct in thinking all regions will have their own LEAP's ? If so it's news to me but then again the EA have so far never replied to any communication of mine - just got an e-mail acknowledgement. I will have to enquire further me thinks.

 

Rob.

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Guest Leon Roskilly
Originally posted by RobStubbs:

Leon,

Am I correct in thinking all regions will have their own LEAP's ?

 

Hi Rob,

 

The one I've obtained is purely for the Medway River Catchment area. From it's source down to Rochester.

 

I'd guess that each catchment area has it's own.

 

The LEAP also makes mention of the Bio-diversity Action Plan, which I also requested. This covers the whole of Kent, but is little more than a glossy brochure.

 

I've always had excellent service from my local EA office Posted Image

 

Tight Lines - leon

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Guest waterman1013

Hi Leon

 

The Colne Valley LEAP was prepared a couple of years ago with inputs from interested parties. We had inputs from our angling society but when the plan was finally published most of the solutions were budget driven rather than driven by need.

 

The solutions were weak reflecting the lack of funding for environmental protection from central and local government.

 

LEAPS are a good idea but without adequate funding for the work the EA will be left with lost of chopped up trees in the shape of reports.

 

I hope I am not being too cynical.

 

Mike

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Guest Leon Roskilly
Originally posted by waterman1013:

Hi Leon

 

The Colne Valley LEAP was prepared a couple of years ago with inputs from interested parties. We had inputs from our angling society but when the plan was finally published most of the solutions were budget driven rather than driven by need.

 

Hi Mike,

 

Getting the words onto a piece of paper is the easy bit. Getting the authority (any authority) to actually implement agreed ideas, is hard work, takes lots of patience, and involves much frustration.

 

The thing is not to be exhausted by the consultation phase, or to sit back and rest on your laurels.

 

It's taken me over 3 years to get a curb lowered on my local cycle track!

 

Tight Rome wasn't built in a day - leon

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by Leon Roskilly (edited 29 January 2000).]

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Guest Malcolm Gilbert

The 1999 Local Environment Agency Plan for West Cornwall was published in June. In the 'overview', considerable reference was made to tourism. A list of water based recreational activities on the coast included waterskiing,surfing,canoeing etc. etc. Guess what? angling was'nt mentioned! After much corress. I received a letter thanking me for 'highlighting their omission' and confirming that recreational angling will be included in the 2000 edition.

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Guest Malcolm Gilbert

Twenty years ago Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee introduced a minimum landing size for bass of 37.5 cms. This is 1.5 cms more than the current National/EU limit of 36cms.

However the jurisdiction in the estuaries remains with the Environment Agency and so all too often the enforcement of the CSFC limit was made impossible due to culprits claiming the fish in their posession were from an estuary. This situation has been the subject of much debate over many years by both the CSFC and the EA. A preliminary enquiry revealed that the EA had been denied ratification of a proposed bylaw to bring their min. landing size up to the larger 37.5 cms to bring them level with the CSFC bylaw. The Local Environment Agency Plan (LEAP)for 1998 made reference to the problem and listed it among future aspirations. In the 1999 LEAP the issue was not discussed (but I knew the problem still existed) so I wrote to the EA asking on what grounds had MAFF denied the EA a min. landing size for bass to equate with that of the CSFC. The answer is, as you are probably guessing, the EA have never even asked MAFF for such a bylaw! They claim not to have had "resources to progress this issue". For me, this is just another example which demonstrates the level of commitment to good fisheries management--there is'nt any!

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