News

How good is your river? 8 March 2007

The Riverfly Partnership hosted the second National Riverfly Conference on 8 March 2007 at the Natural History Museum in London.

The conference brought together 200 delegates representing the statutory bodies, fishing and conservation organisations, and academia. Delegates were welcomed by Malcolm Scoble, Head of Entomology at the Natural History Museum, and the conference was introduced by Paul Knight, Chair of the Riverfly Partnership. Keynote speeches by Dafydd Evans, Head of Fisheries for the Environment Agency, and Martin Salter MP, Chair of the All-Party Angling Group, provided the context for the day focussing on the role anglers can play in monitoring the health of Britain’s rivers. The conference saw the launch of the Angler’s Monitoring Initiative (AMI) and heard examples of how the AMI has enabled anglers to highlight changes in water quality on rivers in South Wales and in Ayrshire. Riverfly conservation and factors influencing riverfly abundance, including the impacts of sheep dip, changes in flow rate and water level, vegetation management, climate change, and eutrophication were highlighted.

A wide-ranging and lively panel discussion, responding to questions from the floor, was chaired by Jeremy Paxman during the afternoon.

Sponsors

Buglife–The Invertebrate Conservation Trust, Environment Agency, Fishmongers Hall, Freshwater Biology Association, National Biodiversity Network Trust,  Natural England, Natural History Museum, Salmon & Trout Association, Scottish Environment Protection Agency and The Wild Trout Trust.

» Riverfly conference 2007 programme – DOC-File, 37.0 KB

» Steve Brooks, The Natural History Museum - Launch of the anglers monitoring initiative – PDF-File, 1.7 MB

» Matt Shardlow - Buglife: Action plans and reduction programmes - Developments in riverfly conservation – PDF-File, 269.1 KB

» Peter Hayes, WTT S&TA, Wiltshire Fisheries: Managing rivers for the benefit of flylife – PDF-File, 9.9 MB

» Ian Johnson - Environment Agency: The Environment Agency Flylife Action Plan – PDF-File, 2.0 MB

» Steve Ormerod - University of Wales, Cardiff: Feeling the heat: Climate change and upland riverflies – PDF-File, 1.4 MB

» Brian Shaw, Ayrshire Rivers Trust: The influence of land use on invertebrate populations in Ayrshire – PDF-File, 7.8 MB




Above from left to right: Paul Knight - Riverfly Partnership Chairman; Dafydd Evans - Head of Fisheries, Environment Agency;  Martin Salter MP - Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Angling Group; Steve Brooks - Natural History Museum Entomologist and Matt Shardlow - Director of Buglife - The Invertebrate Conservation Trust

Below from left to right: Peter Hayes - Wilshire Fisheries; Ian Johnson - Fisheries Policy & Process, Environment Agency; Professor Steve Ormerod - Cardiff University Catchment Research Group; Brian Shaw - Ayrshire Rivers Trust and Dai Roberts - Rhymney Flylife Monitoring Group.