Supporting The Future Of Fishing With Licence Sales

To ensure that the revenue generated from fishing licence sales is utilised effectively, with the best possible outcome for fisheriein 2023 to 2024s in angling, the Environment Agency have worked with over 500 partners including the Angling Trust, Institue of Fisheries Management, Wild Trout Trust, Riverfly Partnership as well as several local river trusts, angling clubs, charities and others. 

The work from these partners includes...

- Working to improve fish stocks and habitats

- Provide new facilities for anglers and making fisheries more accessible 

- Take action to mitigate the impacts of climate change 

- Promote angling and giving more opportunity to try fishing 

- Create joined up enforcement and intelligent sharing. 

To safeguard the future of angling, creating a framework to encourage more people to try fishing is a must! Through the partnership between the Angling Tryst and the Environment Agency, during the period of 2023 to 2024, they have not only managed to introduce new anglers, but also train more licenced coaches and create grants to encourage local clubs and communities to help give everyone the chance to try angling.

Another important part of this partnership is the creation of the Get Fishing award scheme which has been developed to help anglers take the first steps on their angling journey. This progressive introduction to fishing is delivered by angling clubs, fisheries, coaches and volunteers over three separate 1hr sessions, and over 3600 people completed the Get Fishing award scheme over the last 12 months. 

As part of their effort to support angling, a massive part of their effor is ensuring we have as many fisheries as possible to enjoy our sport. This can be anything from increasing accessibility of fisheries for all through the introduction of platforms, bridges and paths to improving fish habitat to minimise predation, or the controlling non-native species.

From 2023 to 2024, the funding from licences was able to contribute to...  

- 33 Otter & Comortant Predation Schemes 

- 18 Non Native Species Control & Biosecurity Projects 

- 232 Fishery Improvement Projects 

- Improving 5.5km of River Habitat 

- Improving 58 Hectares of Stillwater Habitat 

- Creating 160 new angling facilities 

Thanks to the EAs fish farm at Claverton, your rod licence sales are able to fund the rearing of coarse fish for release into fisheries. These fish are normally a mixture of one and two year old fish and allows them to be prepared to replenish stocks in the event of any environmental incident, so the recovery of these fisheries can be kickstarted to minimise the impact. Over 350,000 of these fish were stocked into flowing water and there were also in excess of 2 million advanced reared fish larvae introduced into the wild. 

The full breakdown of stocked fish is as follows...

Bream (51,493); Roach (88,720); Tench (15,350); Dace (66,600); Rudd (17,809); Barbel (135,410); Grayling (39,300); Crucian Carp (16,800) and Chub (47,450)

Based in Brampton in Cambridgeshire, the Environment Agency run a class leading laboratory that helps them closely monitor fish health, ageing and non-native species such as signal crayfish, topmouth gudgeon or the new threat of Prussian Carp. This lab is well equipped to help protect our fish and fisheries both now and in the future and over the past 12 months has been responsible for...

- Investigating 36 fisheries for fish kills including full disease diagnostics 

- Conducting 112 fish mortality investigations

- Conducting 102 fish health checks 

- Responding to over 1500 queries supporting national incidents.  

As part of the funding from licence sales, the Environment Agency make sure that anglers comply with regulations to ensure the protection of fish stocks, such as during the fishing close season by attempting to eliminate illegal fishing. To deter this, there is a £2500 fine for unlicenced anglers and during the period of 2023 to 2024, through their patrols and licence checks, £76,485 of penalties were issued. 

Another part of this intergral part of this enforcement is through their partnership with the Angling Trust with the creation of the Fisheries Enforcement Support Service. One example of this partnership is the Voluntary Bailiff Service which has a total of 659 volunteers that have done 17,427 patrols over the past 12 months and submitted 1,021 incident reports to the Environment Agency, police and other agencies.  

Unfortunately, regardless of planning and measures by the environmental agency, there are many incidents that occur which are out of the EA's control, whether that be warm weather causing algal blooms, which contribiuted for over 50% of incidents between 2023 & 2024 to pollution and environmental events.

However, with the contribution of the funding from licence sales, the Environment Agency is able to set up a dedicated team to tackle these incidents which allows them to quickly react once notified of a potential incident at a fishery, allowing them to potentially save a fishery before it passes the point of no return. 

Monitoring is a massive part of the EAs plan to preserve angling and fisheries for future generations as it gives them the knowledge to make decisions about managing fisheries and planning fishery improvement projects.

By conducting regular and extensive fish stock surveys over periods of either 1 year, 2 years, 3 years or 6 years aswell as water quality monitoring, the Environment Agency obtains the knowledge where fish populations are migrating, breeding, thriving of struggling. These areas are prioritised to fisheries with angling interest or those considered at most risk due to external environmental factors. This allows them to act quicker to any environmental changes or potential risks. 

During 2023-2024 a total of 1933 fish stock surveys were completed, which is the highest number achieved since before COVID-19 and nearly 800 more than compelted in 2022 to 2023.