Experts said that we are advancing towards the end of the line in terms of commercial fish stocks. But fishing for fun is still presented as a rather noble pursuit. Perhaps anglers shouldn’t be let off the hook so easily. While one lone fisherman can’t harvest the tonnage of a crazy commercial o fleet, some 3 percent of the population purport to be recreational anglers, and the decline of the River Wye’s stocks shows that anglers are indeed culprits of overfishing.
It is found that this spring there was very low numbers of salmon migrating up Welsh rivers, and the Environment Agency has a disappointingly long and countrywide list of salmon rivers it says will be at risk by 2013. Meanwhile, recreational fishing has become linked with the arrival of invasive species, both fish and plants. To help arrest the spread of invasive species, responsible anglers must dry off, clean and disinfect their fishing tackle between waterways.
It is said that Fish Legal, for example, part of the Angling Trust, took several polluting companies to court last year, winning £78,500 in compensation to clean up damaged waterways. But anglers can be their own worst enemy. Right now, we’re in coarse fishing season, but almost as soon as this ends there will be lobbying to get rid of the closed season, when fish spawn.
