Is it correct to be concerned about a club that clears it's fishing banks straight into the river, with little regard to where these saplings and trees end up?
If the debris where to gather further down the system it would create an unnatural object. Yes the material will break down if it becomes stagnant, but it may also become 'someone elses' problem. thoughts?

I am sure there must be something in the bye laws that says you cannot dump rubbish in the river. I guess this would be "garden rubbish" and i know you cannot use a river as a tip!

Also, the clubs lower down stream might get a bit annoyed!!!

Weed cutting in the river itself is different as it would be impossible to stop stuff floating off.

I'd be concerned about a fishing club which was clearing its banks at all, let alone letting the debris fall into the river. Where are all those big brownies going to hide?

Or are you talking about the river equivalent of a small stillwater - a chalkstream?

M

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I just find it a bit hypocritical of any club. Yes areas need to be cleared but there is a right and a wrong way to do it. Maybe i am being petty and too PC in this modern world we live in. I haven't even touched on issues of losing the nutrients that would have seeped into the river over time had the vegetation fallen naturally on land and degraded, and natural cover for bird life and insects.
I am merely trying to find opinions to see whether i am being as i said 'petty' or whether i have a valid point to raise with the appropriate bodies

Its a big river and a small beat, and it is to create access for Salmon anglers. Trout and Grayling are of little consideration

Our club undertakes extensive bank works and debris is never allowed to float off down the river. Where possible it is stacked on the bank to create wildlife habitat, taken away for use elsewhere (timber) or on rare occasions when the first two option aren't open, burnt on the bank with the landowner's permission.

The throwing of some debris in the river is illegal and the EA should be informed. We have a guy throwing garden debris into the river on one beat and we've got the EA to take action against him after he failed to respond to several polite requests to stop.

We leave overhanging branches where possible to give the sea trout and brown trout somewhere to shelter whilst being mindful of the need to get light into the water to promote weed growth and allowing casting underneath.

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Well said, SEW, it's all about a little bit here. a little bit there, creating a balance. Some light, some shade, no useful trees uprooted as they bind the banks, so their stumps may remain, and sprout again in some instances. As for letting the trimmings float away, that is vandalism.
On the chalkstreams they used to have synchronised weed cutting programmes, I understand.
We used to trim ranunculus on the Eden salmon beat that I used to fish in the 70s, 80s and early 90s. No weed, hardly, worth talking about when I gave up my rod. TC

we have set weed cutting dates on the Avon catchment rivers. These are managed through the Witshire Fisheries Association in conjunction with the EA.

The EA remove the weed from a pre-arranged boom location (below Salisbury) so that all riparian owners can cut in their alloted time slot and the weed will make it's way downstream fr removal and disposal by the EA.

In practice what happens is that two weeks worth of weed cut get caught up on Salisbury & District's hatches as they are directly upstream of Salisbury. Their keepers spent 3 days per week for 3 weeks doing nothing but moving weed on from hatches last season. There was in excess of 80m of weed backed up on one hatch alone.

Without pre-arranged cutting dates there would be a raft of weed flowing through the catchment for pretty much the entire season.

As for general detritus coming downstream, you should report people who just let stuff go. I've done it several times but with our agreed dates here it tends to be either accidental when river works are underway OR more often than not, a homeowner who sees the river as a handy moving dustbin for garden waste. A simple call to the EA normally gets it fixed within a decade or two

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A decade or two? They're nowhere near that quick on the Hampshire chalkstreams!
As Malcolm and Terry say there are alloted weed cutting times on the Test and Itchen. Being at the lower end of the river means we have to wait for forty miles worth of weed to pass through. This often takes a few weeks after the supposed alloted time has finished. During heavy weed cutting years it seems that the cut lasts all summer!
There are now fewer full time river keepers on the chalkstreams and many contractors hired in to cut weed disrespect the agreements - time is money.

The Test and Itchen have for the last few years had a voluntary weed policeman who supposedly chases out of date cutters! I kid you not.

Reg Wyatt

Regarding the initial topic, there are two obvious (and very important) points that stand out to me.

First of all - wholesale tree clearance right down to the bankside is a complete vandalism of the river. It is likely to destabilise the banks, increase erosion (and hence choke spawning gravels with fine silt and sand from soil). This means that the river will become wider, shallower and more boringly uniform as a result. This uniformity will reduce the fish holding capacity of the reach. In addition, the lack of bankside cover for fish to shelter under will further reduce the fish holding capacity. It will also mean that salmonid fish are less likely to spawn in that reach (because there is no cover for the fish that are waiting to spawn). Appalling management!

The second point is that, despite efforts to preach the true message, many anglers and fishery managers do not appreciate the huge value of (stable) large woody debris (i.e. trees, logs and root boles) IN rivers and streams. Removing the source of Timber (or pulling it out after it falls in) from rivers is one of the key man-made interventions that REDUCES salmonid productivity in rivers. In an un-impacted river system - there is a natural sequence of trees cracking and falling into rivers. These lumps of wood fetch up and generally stabilise in appropriate positions. Here they cause the river to generate wonderful scoured out holding pots as well as throwing up plumes of lovely clean spawning gravels. The wood also provides physical shelter for fish and invertebrates. Please see the post "Glorious Good Wood" on my blog for a little more on Large Woody Debris (LWD): http://urbantrout.blogspot.com/searc...&max-results=7

So - an improved management practice for the river in question would be:
1.) Coppicing some selected trees on a rolling rota so that there are always trees of various ages (coppiced trees grow back!) to provide a balance of dappled light (sufficient to support weed growth). A balance of 60:40 light:shade is a good rule of thumb. The shade will provide protection against high summer temperatures and low overhanging branches (plus low scrubby coppice re-growth) will provide vital cover for migratory and non-migratory fish alike. DO NOT CUT THEM ALL DOWN AT THE SAME TIME!

2.) Use the timber that arises from coppicing by pinning it securely into the river bed at strategic points to a.) generate localised scour and produce clean spawning gravels b.) protect sensitive banks from excessive erosion.

The Wild Trout Trust (www.wildtrout.org) will come, on invitation, and provide FREE ADVICE and where appropriate FREE PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATIONS of these techniques tailored to the appropriate needs of your own river. We don't discriminate between clubs that are wild fisheries, or whether stocking occurs to support catch and kill. We provide balanced advice that preserves crucial migratory and non-migratory salmonid stocks. The only costs to the recipients of such Advisory and Practical visits are petrol money for the conservation officer that provides the service.

If you'd like us to continue to provide this FREE OF CHARGE SERVICE, please consider joining the WTT (it costs you 67 pence per week). So even if you aren't able to work on protecting fish habitat yourself - your contribution means that we can do it for you. Membership forms here: www.wildtrout.org