Background
- Cyril Bennett who pioneered an anglers' monitoring initiative on the River Wey in the 1980s;
- Cyril Bennett, Warren Gilchrist and colleagues from the John Spedan Lewis Trust for the Advancement of the Natural Science who deliver riverfly identifcations courses at the Leckford Estate on the River Test;
- Steve Brooks and Peter Barnard, Entomologists at The Natural History Museum, London, who ran entomology courses for anglers in the 1980's
- and the Riverfly Recording Scheme Coordinators for Ephemeroptera (Craig Macadam) and Trichoptera (Ian Wallace of Liverpool Museum
The collaboration was brought together in 2002 as a Natural History Museum / Natural England Partnership Project coordinated by Bridget Peacock.
The 2004 Riverfly Conference, Riverfies - a beacon of environmental quality, which led to the establishment of the Riverfly Partnership, demonstrated overwhelming support of the monitoring initiative. The initiave was endorsed by the Salmon and Trout Association and led to a pilot phase in collaboration with the Environment Agency (EA) with the associated publication being developed with the Field Studies Council (FSC).
In 2006 the Riverfly Partnership trialed the Test Version of the publication with the EA, in association with Ryedale Anglers, Taunton Fly Fishers, Eden Rivers Trust, Rhymney and Sirhowy Montioring Group and Frensham Fly Fishers amongst others. In early 2007 the Scottish Environment Protection Agency was approached and officially joined the initaitive.
The national launch of the Anglers Monitoring Initiative took place in March 2007 at the second National Riverfly Conference, How good is your river? which was held at The Natural History Museum, London.
The Riverfly Partnership, in collaboration with local organisations, continues to lead the initiative to meet it's core aims of working to help protect the water quality of watercourses and conserve their riverfly populations. The Riverfly Partnership is a network of organisations committed to furthering the understanding and conservation of riverfly populations.
Amateurs as experts - a collaboration with Lancaster University
The development of the Anglers Monitoring Initiative formed part of a study by, and benefitted from the expertise of, Claire Waterton and Rebecca Ellis of the Institute of Environment, Philosophy and Public Policy at Lancater University. » Messing about on the river by Claire Waterton Salmo Trutta 2003 p.56-58 – PDF-File, 1.0 MB
