Fisheries Improvement Programme
The portal is now closed.
Thank you to all the clubs and fisheries who have submitted proposals up until 16/2/22, they have all been forwarded to the Environment Agency and are now with staff in the relevant area.
A decision will now be made whether they can be supported and incorporated into the 2022/23 Fisheries Improvement Programme. A local Environment Agency fisheries officer may contact you to discuss your fishery and your plans.
The budget available for projects is directly dependent on fishing licence sales. This may result in the portal reopening later in the year.
New angling platforms on the River Waveney at scole
Stock Fencing to improve riparian habitat in Thames catchment
The programme was established in 2015 and since then the Agency has reinvested over £6 million from anglers in projects that will directly benefit fish and fisheries. In 2020, 172 projects were completed working with over 200 partners, resulting in improvements to 37km of river and 123ha of stillwaters. 10 barriers to fish passage being removed.
The Fisheries Improvement Programme (FIP) together with the Angling Improvement Fund (AIF) provides an excellent way for the Environment Agency to reinvest fishing licence income in positive outcomes for anglers. They need to develop good projects and ensure fisheries money goes further and works harder. To identify and co-deliver work, the Agency wants to develop a log of ideas and welcomes input from partners via the Angling Trust’s portal.
Action requested
Angling clubs, fisheries managers and other partners can submit project proposals using the portal. The system will ask you some basic information about the type of works you are considering. To help you understand the type of projects that may be supported, the Agency has issued the following criteria:
- Angling benefits: the water where the project is planned must be fished
- Coarse, trout and eel habitat/passage: these are the key constraints for good fish populations, addressing them will result in more sustainable stocks and improved connectivity
- Angling access and facilities: platforms, pegs and pathways for rivers and stillwaters.
- Ensuring that the needs of less able bodied anglers are considered
- An emphasis on developing community and urban fisheries (which may require both habitat and access work)
4. Proactive management of prolonged dry weather and/or climate impacts.
The online portal is now closed.
If in doubt please contact your local Environment Agency fisheries officer (if you do not have a direct contact, then call 03708 506506) they are happy to discuss your idea and advise on the best approach.
Please note: the FIP funding does not cover works to prevent predation and biosecurity. Funding for measures to protect fish from predation is through the AIF.
Creating a better place: The Fisheries Improvement Programme
Blog by Roger Handford, Environment Agency
Anglers often ask us about how we spend the money raised from the sale of fishing licences. Whenever faced with this question, I pause to reflect on the wide range of activities this income pays for in order to protect and improve fish stocks and fisheries.
Our work includes saving fish if there is too much water (floods) or if there is not enough (drought). We manage the impacts being caused by the climate emergency. We improve habitats for fish and provide new access and facilities for anglers. Through targeted enforcement action, and working with other organisation such as the Angling Trust, we protect stocks from illegal fishing. The list continues; we grow and restock fish; we eradicate invasive species and, working with partners, we encourage people to take up fishing for the first time or to return after a break.
For people who want more details there is an annual report which provides more information on everything we do in fisheries.
The number of licences we sell determines our budget and the amount of fisheries work we can do. Recent years have seen the number of anglers falling. This has resulted in us needing to adopt new ways of working and in particular an emphasis on joining up with partners who have similar interests and who can contribute time or additional funds.
The Fisheries Improvement Programme (FIP), is a good example of how we do this.
It was first established in 2015 and involves us reinvesting licence payers money into projects which benefit anglers and fish stocks. Over the last 5 years we have spent £3.5m in this way and completed 500 projects across the length and breadth of the country. We have worked with hundreds of different partners from organisations with a national presence such as the Rivers Trust, the Wild Trout Trust, the Canal and River Trust and Angling Trust to small angling clubs and local community groups. We estimate these partners have themselves contributed over £5.5m to the programme in this time.
The result is that long lengths of river have been improved and more fish are available for anglers to catch. As a snapshot, in 2017 we reported that the FIP enhanced 133km of rivers and we removed 23 barriers to natural fish passage. An estimated 120,000 anglers benefitted from these works.
Here’s some examples of the work:
Fencing a river in Cumbria to prevent cattle poaching and improve the riparian and marginal habitat for fish
Deflectors installed in a Midlands river to increase flow diversity and clean gravels and provide habitat for fish spawning
We remain committed to continuing with this programme of supporting fisheries partners and funding co-delivered projects. Through this work we are contributing to the Government’s 25 year Environment Plan and wellbeing agenda as well as supporting the aims of the new National Angling Strategy.
All the projects we fund must demonstrate benefits for anglers and those we work with need to provide evidence of additional funds secured or ‘in-kind’ volunteer support.
Looking forward we want to hear from more clubs and fisheries about the work and projects they would like to see undertaken, as well as contacting your local fisheries officer to discuss ideas we are inviting people to register their project interests via the Angling Trust portal.
The Fisheries Improvement Programme provides us with a means of undertaking works that result in local outcomes for anglers who buy a fishing licence. The more people who go fishing, the more projects we can deliver. Please visit the gov.uk website to buy your licence today!