Upper Tamar rivers to benefit from fishery and habitat improvements
Three tributaries of the River Tamar in Devon are about to be improved thanks to a new partnership project supported by the Environment Agency.
From: The health of Tamar’s tributaries are key to helping fish numbers recover
Working alongside the Westcountry Rivers Trust and local angling associations, Environment Agency officers are helping to boost fish numbers on the Rivers Deer, Claw and Carey through a targeted programme of habitat and ecological improvements.
The project is part-funded with £38,000 from the Environment Agency’s Fisheries Improvement Programme (FIP) which reinvests rod licence money into projects which benefit anglers and fish stocks. The FIP money has been matched by partners including local fishing associations.
National evaluation of costs of meeting coastal environment requirements
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Farming Independent has learned that, over the coming weeks, the EPA will publish new figures on the scale of reduction in nitrogen emissions in water that will be needed to achieve Ireland’s water quality goals.
The EPA has also completed new maps on “hotspot areas” within the landscape which it says are “most risky” for losses of nitrogen and phosphorus based on the characteristics of the soils and land activities.
An EPA spokeswoman said: “The maps will be made available through Teagasc and EPA mapping systems in the coming weeks.”
She outlined that Ireland, like other member states, is expected to demonstrate pathways to achieving the nutrient reduction targets in the EU Farm to Fork strategy – a 20pc reduction in fertiliser use, and a 50pc reduction in nitrogen losses – by 2030 and good water quality as set out in the Water Framework Directive.
Fair and equitable compensation must be paid to farmers where water abstraction takes place on farmland and results in land sterilisation, crop loss and disturbance, according to the IFA.
The call comes as the Government proposes to overhaul the legislation in this area, under pressure from the European Commission over the absence of controls on water abstractions.
The new laws will place limits on the amounts of water that can be taken rivers, lakes and groundwater sources without registration with the authorities.
However, in a submission to the Oireachtas Committee scrutinising the proposed laws, the IFA said an amendment is needed to better reflect the rights of farmers and makes provision for an equitable package of measures, including compensation where losses arise due to a water abstraction.