Annual Newsletter: Issue 9 CONTENTS ON THE COVER IDENTIFY - RESTORE - SUSTAIN 3 Trust director Jack Spees explains RRT’s holistic approach to river conservation SALMON TRACKING 5 Fisheries scientist Gareth Jones reports on the findings of the Ribble spring salmon tracking INVASIVE SPECIES 9 Adam Walmsley provides a summary of the progress in tackling invasive non-native species KEEPING RIVERS COOL 13 How we plan to adapt our rivers and streams to future climate change CATCHMENT RESTORATION FUND 14 Details on our 3-year funding from Defra and where the money will go PROJECT UPDATES ELECTROFISHING SURVEYS 4 Photograph by Rod Calbrade RIVERFLY MONITORING 6 RIVER WALKOVER SURVEYS STAFF RIVER IMPROVEMENT FUND PROJECTS 10 Jack Spees - Director CAM AND GAYLE BECKS 12 Richard Atton - Volunteer Coordinator - STOCK BECK Catherine Birtwistle Administrator Sarah Bolton - Agricultural Projects Officer Victoria Dewhurst - Community Engagement Officer URBAN RIVER ENHANCEMENT SCHEME 16 Stephen Hatton - Habitat Projects Officer Gareth Jones - Fisheries Scientist RIBBLE LIFE 17 John Milne - Projects Officer Joanne Spencer - Community Engagement Officer ANGLING PASSPORT 18 Adam Walmsley - Invasive Species Officer SUPPORTERS 19 TRUSTEES Philip Lord (Chairman) Vince Edmondson (Vice Chairman) Alan Rowntree (Treasurer) Cover photograph: The River Hodder by Rod Calbrade Dominic Bradley Editor: Catherine Birtwistle Chris Haworth Mike Horner © Ribble Rivers Trust Harvey Marchbank The Ribble Rivers Trust is the trading name of the Dave Wilmot Ribble Catchment Conservation Trust Ltd. Charity number: 1070672 Company number: 3498691 2 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT PHILIP LORD COMMENTS ON ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR AT THE TRUST Project funding bids have been very successful this year. The Trust has 10 great staff with all the skills to drive the Trust forward and improve the Ribble Catchment for current and future generations. The success of funding bids has been opposed by the weather, which from June onwards has caused us many problems, and is continuing to do so as I write this in December. We have projects that have to be completed by 31st March 2013 and we need a rapid improvement in the weather, much work has gone into securing these projects and it would be terrible not to see them delivered. This year has seen an increase in volunteering in the catchment. This has allowed so many more improvements to be made, and has an additional benefit in that all the volunteer hours that have been put in adds value to our funding bids. But quite simply the more help we get, the better the river will be. Consistent monitoring and data gathering is the oxygen behind our management of the rivers. We need long sets of data built up over many years to focus efforts and resources on the actions that will bring about the most improvement to the catchment. Our targets are; To connect all of our rivers and streams by removing man-made barriers To improve the natural gravels To create better in-channel habitat for fish and other river wildlife To have good water quality throughout the catchment These are the factors that will determine the health of the Ribble Catchment and all of its native wildlife that we all cherish and enjoy. DIRECTOR’S REPORT JACK SPEES EXPLAINS THE “IDENTIFY - RESTORE - SUSTAIN” APPROACH The success of the Trust in delivering strategy, which is a simple, common sense been provided by various stakeholders to projects in 2012 and securing funding for approach that forms the basis of all try and produce a prioritised set of works projects into 2013 - and some projects as successful conservation projects, be it on that not only we can embark on, but all of far as spring 2015 - has largely come land or in water, by ensuring that each the stakeholders in the catchment. stage in the improvement of the about because of the dedication and hard RESTORE: We prefer to see issues as catchment is seamlessly joined. work of the Trust’s staff. The team itself “opportunities” to restore or improve, has a wide range of skills from River IDENTIFY: We have been identifying the rather than issues, not just the river but Ecology and Planning, to Agriculture and issues on the catchment for many years, the catchment in general. By generating a Civil Engineering. This has meant that we but more recently we have worked with map of what work is needed where (such have been able to adjust our approach to partners and stakeholders through the as fencing and tree planting, weir be truly catchment based but more Ribble Life project to expand this list. To removals and changes in land importantly, truly holistic - addressing the address every issue is our goal, but with management), and also providing details three main issues of water quality, habitat limited resources, we must focus effort on of the multiple objectives it will help quality and habitat connectivity. those issues that are most significant, i.e. achieve, we hope that the amount of work We have now been able to formalised our we must prioritise. To that end, we are being undertaken to restore and improve “IDENTIFY – RESTORE – SUSTAIN” collating 240 different datasets that have the catchment by everyone will increase. SUSTAIN: By encouraging others to get involved in as much of this process as possible, engaging with them on the benefits that clean, healthy rivers present and involving them in some of the more simple activities that can help improve and protect our catchment, we hope to generate a sense of ownership and pride in our rivers and streams. This will ensure that the improvements that are made are continued into the future for current and future generations to enjoy. Our newsletter is packed with examples of this process in action, from the weir and habitat schemes completed in 2012, to the engagement and proposed works in Burnley. I hope you enjoy the read, and are inspired to sign up to help improve our catchment in any way you can! The River Hodder at Burholme Bridge 3 IDENTIFY ELECTROFISHING REPORT by Gareth Jones Electrofishing surveys are one of the most task by the end of September. To make important datasets that the Trust collects. best of the conditions, we prioritised the The presence of a good juvenile salmonid monitoring of the sites where the Trust population is indicative of how healthy a has completed work or will be targeting in particular river or stream is. By carrying the near future. This is with the aim of out these surveys annually, we can building a picture of their development in identify the watercourses that are lacking the years to come and hopefully a boost in fish populations and focus our efforts in fry numbers will materialise. there. The electrofishing datasets also provide a valuable source of ‘before and Many becks that were running low (or proved to be our most productive sub- after’ data, which demonstrates how even dry) last year have fished catchment and has fished consistently. effective a project has been in raising the surprisingly well across the whole Unfortunately, our coverage of the Ribble salmonid population and thus the catchment, with the extra water providing has not reached our earlier expectations. ecological status of that section of river. more available habitat to young fish. The Swanside and Long Preston Becks have Calder Catchment has notably yielded again represented the most productive The wet weather has benefitted the greater numbers of trout fry than last areas. catchment’s population of juvenile year, although plenty of scope remains salmonids in 2012. An increase in the for improvement, most notably in Our native white-clawed crayfish appear numbers and growth of fry in our local Burnley, Colne Water and Catlow Brook. to have had a good year, arriving in a becks has occurred in the survey sites we An absence of salmon fry on the Calder handful of new locations that we had not were able to revisit. The summer has beyond Sabden Brook continues and the previously seen them. Eels have also proven to be frustrating with many days aforementioned areas underperform by benefitted. Proportionally more sites to postponed or cancelled due to high river comparison to their headwaters. last year have contained eels. In a five- levels and discolouration of the water. Throughout the Hodder Catchment, there minute long survey, 11 eels were On the plus side, we have involved more was a good return of salmon fry, discovered in a beck only 3m wide! The (academic and angler) volunteers than particularly in the main river sites, with location was typified by exposed tree ever before to complete our full improved numbers of trout fry further up roots in the banks in a reach with reduced allocation of Calder sites and with good the system in the headwaters. The EA has water flow. Given their rare status, it is coverage of the Hodder and mid-Ribble provided their data from their ‘Restoring worth noting that when we capture eels. systems. As a result, we have fished into Sustainable Abstraction’ project at the top we are quick to remove them from our mid-October thanks to an extension to of the Langden and Dunsop systems. Our survey site and quickly return them to the our Environment Agency (EA) consent. In thanks are offered to the EA for sharing river. a normal year, we would complete our this information. Again, the Hodder has In 2012, we saw very few coarse fish species, with the exception of minnows. One site yielded 249 minnows in a five- minute survey period. Whilst our survey methodology does not specifically cover coarse species, inevitably we discover them in the lower areas of the Ribble, an area we unfortunately had to omit this year.