Sustainability Committee

Inquiry into access to inland water in Wales

With regards to river access and in particular small pleasure craft such as canoes.

Firstly, my position: I am a game fisher (angler) who is a member of my local fishing club, the Denbigh and Clwyd Angling Club which has fishing rights (both rented and owned) on the Clwyd, Elwy and certain associated tributaries in North Wales. I also fish water which through ‘day tickets’ both in Wales (Dee and Usk particularly) and further a field in the UK and Ireland.

With regards to opening up rivers to navigation by pleasure craft I feel I must be against it for reasons I will now outline:
One: when fishing, canoes, even in small numbers, do adversely affect the anglers chance of catching fish.
Two:
Give the above statement

- if this adverse effect of catching fish occurs, the value of fishing decreases.

- Subsequently, if the value to fishings decreases then rents from fishing will drop

- Therefore landowners will receive less income and so it becomes less worth there while to maintain habitat and quality of fishing

- Given that many of Wales rivers hold Atlantic Salmon (an endangered species) damage to habit is surely unwise.

In summary: the introduction of a blanket access to rivers will mean that less is spent on conservation of habitat for fish species (also, if the habitt s good for fish, it is good for the rest of the food chain and biota thereof)

Anglers pay a national rod license direct to the environment agency every year for maintenance and monitoring of this precious natural resource. Open access for pleasure craft would adversely affect the resource (damage to banks and spawning grounds from launching and disturbance to eco system) without paying for its up keep. Anglers on the other hand, accepted that they also affect the natural resource that our rivers hold, have a vested interest in maintaining rivers and their populations of fish to sustain a valuable habitat so that they maybe fished for in the future by the current and future generations. It is my view that access to pleasure craft of the kind envisaged would damage the resource of our rivers and biota without giving back to the same extent. There are also non-monetary benefits to consider such as the time put it in habitat restoration and clean-ups by anglers and angling associations on a voluntary basis.

There are also indirect contributions: organisations such as Fish Legal which prosecutes those who pollute the environment on a private basis and also pursue civil claims all adding up to a disincentive to pollute the environment. Fish Legal is funded entirely by donations, in the main from angling bodies and directly to Fish Legal itself (see http://www.fishlegal.net/).

Then there are the economic benefits seen in associated industries. The writer does not know what value angling tourism has for the Welsh economy but it is significant (Perhaps a report from the Welsh assembly government on the value of angling vs ‘canoe’ tourism would be helpful). It is a concern that if Welsh Rivers are opened then visiting anglers from outside Wales will go to some of the very high standard fishing in England, Scotland, N. Ireland and the Irish Republic rather than have to put up with the chance of having a significant portion of their fishing disturbed by water craft. If that I the case then there could well be a loss of jobs in rural areas where jobs are often at the highest premium. All this translates to a loss of external income to the Welsh economy. It is vital that the economic impact of any moves to open up river access be considered for economic impact as the writer believes that any increase in revenue made by increases in pleasure craft usage would not make up the overall shortfall from revenues lost from angling.

Sincerely,

Michael Seager