Jack Spees Ribble Rivers Trust CEO - where there's water, there's life - The Rivers Trust
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Jack Spees
CEO
Ribble Rivers Trust
the umbrella body of the rivers trust movement
where there’s water, there’s life
Meeting the generation
challenge for fisheries
Jack Spees
CEO
Ribble Rivers Trust
What do we need, to be able to leave fisheries in a better condition than we found it?
First things first
u Our aims, objectives and plans delivers the Government’s 25 year plan for them
Or
u The Government’s 25 year plan delivers our aims, objectives and plans
Or
u We work together to deliver our combined aims and objectives
Practical Barriers
u The EA owned Samlesbury gauging weir
u Near the Tidal Limit on the Ribble
u First Barrier to fish migration
u A bottle neck exploited by anglers and predators alike
u No longer in use for gauging
u Used by fire and rescue service for training due to H&S
incidents
u Cited specifically as the key reason water body is failing
u Identified as a limiting factor for our MCZ species (Smelt)
u A financial liability for the EA
u EA have had compensation claims associated to incidents
u Indemnity clause to landowner
u Obviously a quick and easy win?
Hmmmmmm
u Lancashire Wildlife Trust Flagship Nature Reserve on
oneside
The following scene is based on real events…….
u Private Landowner demanding blanket indemnity on the
other
u Planning permission required
The characters have been anonymised to protect their identities…..
u Boundary of two authorities – neither wants to deal with it
u Environmental Permit Required
u Impoundment Licence
There is only marginal dramatisation of the events….
More quick wins
u Oakenshaw Weir – River Hyndburn
u Privately owned
u Has a main Sewer for Accrington in it
u Redundant
u Salmon present to foot of weir
u Removal not possible
u By-pass channel selected
u Delivers on WFD objectives for river
u Delivers Salmon 5 point plan
u Enhances local Borough Council Public Open Space
Easy?
u Planning Permission Required
u Borough Council on board financial support
u The following
Landowner permission scene is based on real events…….
u Refused
u Granted
The characters
u Repeat have been anonymised to protect their identities…..
u Local EA great, robust approach with landowner
u Sewer
There is only
u UU were marginal
fantastic – guidance,dramatisation
site visit, pragmatismof the events….
u Environmental Permit
u No Problem – oh but you will need an Abstraction Licence
u Abstraction Licence
Last quick win
u Erosion to banks of Swanside Brook
u Modified Stream (over 150 years ago)
The following scene is based on real events…….
u Boxing day floods set it loose
u High Pressure Ethelene Gas Pipe at risk
u Compromise with Landowner/Gas Pipeline/Tenant
The characters have been anonymised to protect their identities…..
u Green engineering (woody material), with volunteers and
farmer
u Environmental Permit
There is only marginal dramatisation of the events….
Regulation
u Less of it - FOR US!
u As a sector we are more bureaucratically regulated than any of the people
that benefit from our work
u Red tape is being cut for many sectors
u For ours promised but with one strand cut, another is implemented!
u Regulation on some of those who benefit from key fisheries activities but
constrain projects would provide incentive for delivery.
u De-regulation on our sector would reduce costs allowing more delivery.
Empower us and enable us to deliver as easily and cost
effectively as possible.Regulation - continued
u Carrot and Stick
u 1 Carrot Organisation
u 1 Stick Organisation
u True effectiveness is achieved working together
u EA Farm visit identified breaches in FrFW, EA Officer suggested that the
offender contacts RRT while the report into breaches is prepared
u He does so
u We deliver infrastructure and habitat work, and a fish pass to boot
u We share the success WITH the EA officer.
u We DO need the strong regulator
u The appetite is not always there Appetite for this is derived top down
u Government/DEFRA/EA legal need to be more willing
u Losing a case has a significant positive – farmers talk
u Those farmers who comply feel aggrieved by those who don’t, and go unpunishedRegulation - continued
u There is no incentive to do the right thing if the wrong
thing is unpunished
u Particularly where the right thing costs money
u Providing resource for incentives is crucial
u Agri-environment scheme
Empower regulators to regulate and share the
successes of the carrot and stick (cause
sometimes the carrot is a stick!)Monitoring, Investigation, Evidence
Effective
u Opportunism “doing because we Delivery
can”
u Strategic – “doing because evidence
suggests its best” Strategy
u At RRT we balance between –
“Strategic Opportunism”
u But truly strategic is best Evidence
u So what do we need?
Data
MonitoringWhat do we need, to be able to
leave fisheries in a better
condition than we found it?
u Need to enable those who can deliver
u Need to empower those who can deliver
u Need to incentivise those who can deliver
u Need to penalise those who prevent delivery
u Need to be able to demonstrate you have improved
condition
u Need to know what to do next…Creating a sub-catchment fisheries
u Working with new partners to develop a Catchment Fisheries Strategy
u
The following scene is based on real events…….
Summarise aspirations and aims
u Consolidate data and evidence
u Verify data and evidence with walkovers
The ucharacters
Set priorities
have been anonymised to protect their identities…..
u Analyse data and evidence
u Create Your Fisheries Plan
There is only marginal dramatisation of the events….
u Consolidating data and evidence….
Evidence is only as good as the data we put in, and the
most effective way to ensure we leave our rivers in a
better state than we found them is to use an evidence baseYou can also read
