MSA Welcomes News that Fines for Polluting the Country’s Rivers Will be Used for Environmental Improvements
The government has announced that fines handed out to water companies for polluting our rivers will be reinvested into environmental improvements.
Presently, fines paid by water companies - over £141m since 2015 - disappear into the Treasury with no benefit to the environment for the damage caused. This change will mean future fines will be used for environmental improvements such as creating wetlands, re-vegetating riverbanks and reconnecting meanders to the main channel of rivers.
Jamie Cook, CEO of MSA member, the Angling Trust, said: “We welcome this move by Defra and the Treasury. We have been campaigning for this change and justice for our rivers, seas and fish from the damage water companies have done for a long time.
“We wrote to MPs in November 2021 calling for this course of action to be implemented. Following a huge amount of work behind the scenes and another year’s worth of proactive campaigning on behalf of the angling community we are pleased to see that the government have now adopted this logical suggestion.
"[MSA member] Fish Legal have always worked on the basis of returning damages to the impacted club or fishery where resource is needed to re-build, and we must now ensure that this commitment by Defra is directed to where the resource is required to make a difference for fish and the environments they depend upon.
“This should not be a decision for Defra alone. We have been calling for such a fund to be administered by a national panel run by Defra and the Environment Agency with an independent chair, NGO representatives and technical specialists.”
This announcement comes ahead of the COP15 global biodiversity conference in Montréal. Globally, wildlife populations have dropped by 69% since 1970 but freshwater habitats have seen a decline of 83%, and migratory fish numbers in Europe have crashed by an alarming 93%.
Stuart Singleton-White, Head of Campaigns at the Angling Trust, said: “We need to consider the detail carefully; this must be new money and cannot be used to replace the investment Defra have already committed. We want to see a level of independence introduced in how any money raised through future fines is then spent.
“Central to any schemes this proposal will fund in the future is to see improvements to our fisheries and actions to support healthy fish populations across all our waters. Investment in supporting the recovery of Atlantic salmon or improving sea grass meadows as vital nursery grounds for sea bass are just two examples of urgent action this funding can support.”
As an Alliance of six organisations, we will build on the existing work of our partners and maximise our impact by taking a coordinated approach and vital action in order to halt and reverse the decline of wild Atlantic salmon.
The goal of the Missing Salmon Alliance is to build an evidence-base to influence national and international decision-makers to regulate activities that adversely impact wild Atlantic salmon.
The Missing Salmon Alliance
The MSA is comprised of the following members:
Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Atlantic Salmon Trust, the Angling Trust with Fish Legal, The Rivers Trust and Fisheries Management Scotland.
https://www.missingsalmonalliance.org