This is a hypothetical story about a cock and hen
salmon, Sam and Samantha, swimming up the Usk
in late October 2015 after catch and release has
become law.
Samantha
Sam
1. Nice drop of water to help the gang move
on. But lets get moving before the reservoir
takes it all and we’ll be left stranded
2. Yeah !!
What was all that muck we swam through below
Abergavenny? I thought I was going to die
3. That’s the sewerage outlet. It kicks in when
there’s a thunder storm. 5 – 1 my fin !!
According to the EA there is
nothing wrong with the water.
4. I’m surprised they haven’t sorted it out. If it was
anybody else polluting they’d be fined. Are they
above the rules for other
polluters ?
5. Nice of that man to put you back. I told you
not to chase that spinner
6. You reckon ! What use is an old kipper. Don’t eat
good, don’t smoke well
7. Come on, we’re off to the Grwny to rub
bellies
8. OK I’m up for that.
Samantha
Sam
9. Some of the fish are spawning in the big river
10. Good Luck to them!
Hope they keep above any sewerage outfalls.
11. Won’t the brown trout be eating my eggs
when I discharge them
12. Hardly There’s not that many left. I don’t think
there’s enough grub to support them. Anyway the
Goosanders have taken over from the trout. They’ll
eat anything.
13. Well what are the babies going to feed on
then?
14. Who knows. When sheep Dip and slag killed off
most things and water cleanliness came back to a
reasonable standard. A flylife enhancement
programme would have been good, but it didn’t
happen. I hope they like shrimps. They are plenty of
them, they thrive on rubbish which abounds in the
river
15. What’s going to happen then? If all these
extra fish are in the rivers and brooks at
spawning time, due to catch and release and
there’s no food for them to eat?
16. Some will live and most will die.
17. When I was a smolt, I remember being
chased by cormorants, goosanders, herons,
kingfishers, mink, otters and seals.
18. I’ve never seen so many fish-eating birds, it’s a
good job we’re too big to catch.
Samantha
Sam
19. What about my babies, when they go to
sea?
20. They have to take their chance. When I was a boy,
there were loads of eels in the river, otters and mink
and fish-eating birds used to prey more on them, they
were easier to catch. The EA in their ultimate wisdom
ignored that eels were vanishing, lets hope they don’t
continue in the same blinkered fashion with our future!
21. What happened to them then?
22. The Agencies were told 15 years ago that elvers
were being overfished, but no-one was listening and
the sad thing is it still continues today. There are
virtually none left!
23. So how will it all end?
24. Don’t know. I wonder if things will improve with the
demise of the EA. CCW may have a more positive
outlook!
25. I’m glad that man put you back.
26. You reckon?
The moral of this story is to get catch and release to work and get fly life back into the brooks
(perhaps Monsanto and ICI will sponsor it! They killed it!).
• Fish can’t live without food.
• Physically put seeding salmon into the brooks that you’ve improved.
• Get clubs and volunteers to help.
• Get fish-eating birds reduced to a sensible level.
• Give the smolts a chance this end before they get to sea.
• Get the eels back to feed the predators that are left.
• Get corporate sewerage pollution under control
• Get water abstraction limited.
I CARE ABOUT THIS RIVER
Trevor Watkins
August 2011