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Our work and news covers a range of topics and issues relevant to the protection of salmon and trout in the UK.

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SEPA fails in its statutory duty to protect River Dee from blatant pollution

Serious pollution of the River Dee, associated with a major…
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DEFRA consultation on spatial management measures for industrial sandeel fishing

Fisheries Policy Advisor, John Hickey, looks at the latest DEFRA…
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South West Water over-abstracts more than 100 million litres from the River Avon every day

The water company, which supplies water to homes across Devon,…
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WildFish takes part in Green Match Fund to protect wild Atlantic salmon

Atlantic salmon are in danger. The number of wild Atlantic…
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Sewage spilt for 1.75 million hours in 2022

The Environment Agency has today (31 March) published Event Duration…
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Report finds Scottish salmon farms systematically failing to meet own guidelines, with up to two billion sea lice emanating from a single farm in a single week

A new report from WildFish has found that the Scottish…
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SmartRivers: citizen science in action

WildFish has published its 2023 progress report for SmartRivers, a…
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Report by inter-governmental wild salmon conservation organisation NASCO slams Scottish Government’s failure to act on salmon farming impacts

A new report by the inter-governmental wild salmon conservation organisation,…
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WildFish response to the House of Lords Report on Water and Sewage

Today, the House of Lords has published The affluent and…
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What environmental ambition? Water companies’ interpretation of abstraction guidance will come at a cost for wild fish

Water Policy Officer James Overington considers Environmental Destination, yet another…
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WildFish response to Scottish Government’s Wild Salmon Strategy implementation plan

Our director in Scotland, Rachel Mulrenan reviews the Scottish Government's…
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Water supply will struggle to meet demand in drought

Our new report about drought paints a deeply concerning picture…
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Turning the Tide: British Public Stands up for Water

As sewage hits the headlines once again, WildFish joins community…
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WildFish Respond to Southern Water’s Plans for Water Supply

Today, WildFish submitted its response to Southern Water's draft Water…
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WildFish granted permission to challenge the Government’s Sewage Overflows Plan

Today, WildFish has been given permission to apply for judicial…
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Water companies failure to prepare England for drought will result in ecological disaster

A new report, released today, from WildFish reveals that, across…
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Award winning chefs join our Off the Table campaign

In October last year we launched Off the Table, which…
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Top UK chefs join campaign to take farmed salmon off the table

THREE award-winning and game-changing UK chefs have today announced support…
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Top Edinburgh chef joins campaign to take farmed salmon off the table

Award-winning Edinburgh chef Lloyd Morse has today called on fellow…
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Water company fines to improve water quality welcome if they are invested in the right places

The Government has announced that money from the fines handed…
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WildFish launch 2022 Christmas Appeal

For salmon, it's the least wonderful time of the year.…
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Scottish salmon farming continues to expand despite failing to address key environmental and mortality issues

Record production of Scottish farmed salmon escalates risk for wild…
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2022 Chalk Stream Restoration Implementation Plan

Today, the Catchment Based Approach (CaBA) group, including WildFish, released…
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WildFish has started a court action seeking to force the withdrawal and redrafting of the Government’s Sewage Overflows Plan

In 2021, raw sewage was dumped in UK rivers by…
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Welcome relief for Loch Long

On Monday 31 October, the Loch Lomond & The Trossachs…
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Dawnfresh Disaster

An all too familiar cycle has played out once again…
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Baseline agricultural regulation must stay if we are serious about protecting our rivers

A report released today by the Environment Agency (EA) is…
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River sampling to help local activists save Lake Windermere

The role of data in freshwater conservation WildFish and local…
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WildFish launches Off the Table

Today we launch our new campaign Off the table, which…
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WildFish exposes the industry’s efforts to obscure the true impacts of salmon farming in Scotland

New WildFish Scottish salmon farming: Harvesting, sea lice and disease…
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Meet the team

Matt joined us earlier this year as a Farmed Salmon…
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Windermere: citizen scientists take action to fill the ‘monitoring void’ left by an absent regulator

© Matt Staniek. The image shows Waterhead which is situated…
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SEPA kicks the sea lice ball even further into the long grass

In late August, SEPA published its response to the many…
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SmartRivers question time

We catch up with Lauren Harley on why SmartRivers monitoring…
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Over £103,000 raised – our most successful online auction to date!

With over 150 lots - from fishing in the wilds…
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Meet the team

Earlier this year we welcomed Rachel to our team in…
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WildFish issues legal challenge to Government’s sewage plan

WildFish has issued a ‘letter before action’, the first step…
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Alarm bells continue to ring for wild salmon populations

The release of the 2021 report on the assessment of…
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Salmon farms: in hot water

The recent heatwave has had devastating and wide-reaching impacts for…
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Chemical Pollution: The Silent Killer of UK Rivers

This blog discusses the new report from Wildfish, RSPB, Buglife…
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New study shows English rivers exhibiting increased chemical stress and declining invertebrate diversity 

WildFish, RSPB, Buglife and The Pesticide Collaboration have released a…
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Saving our wetlands by farming back

River-side land and naturally wet ground (farmed or unfarmed) should…
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We either have a wild salmon crisis – or we don’t

Hopes were high amongst environmental groups and wild fish interests…
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Llandelio Poultry Unit Refused

It is unusual for national organisations to involve themselves with…
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Critical need for more water supply infrastructure to help protect Hampshire’s chalk streams

A Temporary Use Ban (formerly hosepipe ban) is being introduced…
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A day in the life of… a SmartRivers volunteer

Earlier this year, we sent our Water Policy Officer, James…
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Government set out new plans to supposedly reduce water pollution

Yesterday (20th July 2022) the Government announced new plans to…
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Uncovering population declines of Atlantic salmon on both sides of the channel  

Detailed study of Atlantic salmon shows that population declines seen…
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WildFish publish 2021 Riverfly Census data which shows increasing chemical pressure

WildFish has released the findings of their 2021 Riverfly Census…
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As temperatures rise so too does the increasing demand for drought permits

In July, Southern Water submitted a drought permit application to…
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As temperatures soar, are we heading for a drought?

As we bask or wilt (depending on your view) in…
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Cornish IFCA’s proposal will not protect salmon and sea trout around the coast of Cornwall

WildFish (formerly Salmon & Trout conservation) has written to the…
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Do the Farming Rules for Water actually hold non-compliant farmers to account?

WildFish (formerly known as Salmon & Trout Conservation) have written…
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Environmental Management Plans – A Sorry Saga

Readers may recall that the 2018 Scottish Parliamentary inquiry by…
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Wimbledon serves up farmed salmon from company cautioned for its environmental record

WildFish (formerly Salmon and Trout Conservation) has accused Wimbledon of…
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Sewage Pollution of English Rivers

Secretary of State for the Environment, Ofwat and the Environment…
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Muddying the waters of pollution control

Having just read the 20th June 2022 Guardian article Government…
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Making progress in the freshwater data landscape

Our rivers are polluted by a cocktail of chemicals, nutrients,…
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WildFish forces change to how Farming Rules for Water will be enforced to protect English rivers

WildFish (formerly Salmon & Trout Conservation) has forced a change…
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NASCO: a relevant force in salmon conservation?

The North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation (NASCO) is an inter-government…
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We Get the Environment the Treasury is prepared to pay for…

In January, journalist Rachel Salvidge revealed that the Environment Agency…
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Government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan not nearly enough

The Government opened consultation for its Storm Overflow Discharge Reduction…
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Aquaculture Stewardship Council’s accreditation standards worthless for salmon farms

Sainsbury's current advertising campaign boasts that it is “the first…
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Unpredictable Weather and Habitat Degradation on River Cain

The River Cain joined the SmartRivers programme in autumn 2021.…
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Water companies are trying to avoid responsibility for illegal dumping of sewage

Ofwat and the Environment Agency finally responded last October to…
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Environmental management plan ‘agreements’ between fishery boards and salmon farmers

Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) were supposed to manage ‘interactions’ between…
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Loch Long Salmons semi-solution isn’t the answer

Loch Long Salmon are proposing to deploy the first semi-closed…
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Citizen scientists are helping improve UK rivers by profiling aquatic invertebrate communities

Analysing invertebrate samples to species level - and documenting the…
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Is COP26 salmon supplier Loch Duart incapable or just unwilling to control sea lice?

In the week commencing Monday 14th February, salmon farming company…
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WildFish (formally Salmon & Trout Conservation) takes legal action on Wye pollution

Legal notification of environmental damage submitted to the Environment Agency…
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Why the Griggs review signals more bad news for wild fish

On Thursday 10th February Professor Russel Griggs published a report,…
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Government’s Strategic Policy Statement for water presented to Parliament

The Government's Strategic Policy Statement (SPS) for water has been…
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Net Fishing Byelaw will not protect salmon and sea trout in coastal areas

Atlantic salmon and sea trout populations are at a historic…
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Wild Salmon Strategy Statement

Too little, too late Regrettably, the detail within Scottish Government’s…
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WildFish welcomes Environmental Audit Committee damning report on Water Quality in Rivers

WildFish (formally known as Salmon & Trout Conservation) welcomes Environmental…
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Salmon Farming: The Issue of Trust Part 2

Back in July, I wrote a blog explaining why one…
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The River Usk: A dying river?

Dr. Guy Mawle submits our final river case study for…
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WildFish launches new innovative salmon farming sea lice heat map

The new map highlights locations, intensity and scale of the…
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Chalk Streams by David Profumo

I was brought up on a stretch of chalk stream…
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The role of riverfly in species understanding water quality

WHAT ARE EPT SPECIES? Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies), and Trichoptera…
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Illegal dumping of raw sewage in our rivers…

The Government admits to a massive failure to prevent illegal…
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Mixing medicines in freshwater, how do invertebrates cope?

Of all the ecosystems on the planet, freshwaters support the…
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Disappointing but not a surprise: the Government’s response on sewage pollution

WildFish (formally known as Salmon and Trout Conservation) is very…
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COP26 caterers sourcing farmed salmon from company with appalling environmental record

Loch Duart Ltd is the only salmon producer in receipt…
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New Scottish Government study confirms the severe damage being done to wild salmon populations by salmon farming

Scottish Government study confirms that many wild salmon populations in…
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Chalk streams: at the frontline of the river crisis

WildFish (formerly Salmon & Trout Conservation) welcomes the new Chalk…
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Chalk streams: to England what coral reefs are to the Pacific ocean

Did you know we have a freshwater habitat in England…
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Death by a thousand cuts

The Westcountry Rivers Trust has been working to protect rivers…
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WildFish announces new position on salmon farming

Given Scottish Government’s continuing refusal to regulate open-net salmon farming…
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Changes forced on organic manure application policy

Wild Fish (formally known as Salmon & Trout Conservation) forces…
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Call for Scottish Government to substantiate its claim that salmon farming is “sustainable”

WildFish (formally Salmon & Trout Conservation) call for Scottish Government…
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Time to fix the broken water sector: a ‘shadow’ strategic policy statement

Under investment in water supply and a failing sewerage system…
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The fight to save chalk stream – Freshwater Ecosystems on the front line of the river crisis

England has 85% of the world’s chalk streams. This equates…
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WildFish submits formal complaint following failure to enforce sewage pollution laws to protect English rivers

WildFish (formally known as Salmon & Trout Conservation) has submitted…
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Dismay at Scottish Government’s continuing refusal to address the serious environmental issues associated with Scotland’s salmon farming industry

NGOs and community groups condemn Scottish Government’s delay in tackling…
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The Upper Dane: a SmartRiver Study

The Upper Dane is one of 18 volunteer-led SmartRivers hubs…
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The River Alyn: A SmartRivers Case Study

The River Alyn become a SmartRivers hub in May this…
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The River Cynon: a SmartRivers Case Study

The River Cynon, or Afon Cynon as it is known…
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Salmon Farming: the issue of trust

At the end of June Channel 4 News broadcast footage…
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What aquatic invertebrate communities can tell us about Climate Change?

Situated in the beautiful Flow Country of Caithness and Eastern…
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The Impact of invasive species on the aquatic environment

Over 2,000 plants and animals have been introduced to Britain…
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The River Chew and its aquatic ecology

Like most rivers in the UK, the Chew is subject…
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Agricultural pollution: don’t just take our word for it.

Agricultural water pollution, and the overwhelming amount of waste that…
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Guest Blog: the River Avon

Thought to contain more species of wild fish than any…
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Spring and the increase in agricultural water pollution

For much of the natural environment spring is a season…
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Seaspiracy and suspect accreditation schemes

The Netflix documentary Seaspiracy has sent seismic shockwaves through the conglomerate and…
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The watchdog that lost its bite

WildFish (formally known as Salmon & Trout Conservation) reports on…
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A legal duty to “effectually deal” with sewage

WildFish (formally known as Salmon & Trout Conservation) reminds Minister…
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Instilling interest in invertebrates

We place value in things based on how well we…
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Guest Blog: The River Ribble

Running through the heart of Lancashire, the River Ribble begins…
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Dumping raw sewage in rivers

The Environment Agency is 25 years old today, but our…
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Why wild Salmon Face critical risk on the west coast of Scotland

Our natural environment increasingly faces threats to biodiversity, ecosystem productivity…
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Salmon farmers own data makes the case for much lower sea lice limits

Corin Smith writes, "Contrary to what you may believe salmon…
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