Eden , caldew were full of dace and chub in the 80s , dont know what happened

Caldew used to be brilliant along with peteral I believe it was. Both very small and neither any good at all now.

You can sit by many man made, commercial fisheries and see all sorts of wildlife. From kingfishers and herons to snakes, deer and foxes and everything in between. To say that the tiny amount of anglers that bother fishing rivers these days are causing enough damage to have a detrimental effect on wildlife when busy commercials prove that anglers and nature can perfectly co-exist is nonsense.

Anglers make the same kind of disturbance as dog walkers, joggers, canoists, boaters, and everyone else who 'uses' the waterway. The difference is that anglers then settle down in one position, become quiet, and fish. The argument that we cause excessive bankside disturbance to breeding birds is tosh. (I am over sixty yrs old and a lifelong member of the RSPB.) My experience with Kingfishers, for example, is that I almost always see them when fishing. They fly by as they are disturbed by walkers. I have a birdwatching acquaintance who once told me how rarely she sees kingfishers. It is because she walks along pushing them in front of her. She creates far more disturbance than an angler. If commercial fishery owners are happy to allow anglers to try to catch spawning fish, knowing that it makes no cost effective difference to their business, and that the fish will not be caught anyway, then that is good enough for me. The EA does not want to lift the Close Season for reasons that are not apparent. It is clear it is not for protecting wildlife or protecting fish. Chris S

@@Crustysmith we do not we sit in a peg for hours if a birds nest is close by the bird will not return look i am an angler have been for over 40 years ,but our wild life is on the edge fact,,,,,, none anglers millions leave us alone for now ,if we start to say sod you lot and the wild life i wont to fish where i like when i like it will bring us into conflict with a massive army of nature lovers ,and when we do its to late,,the anti hunt will be drawn to us ,and we our cars and tackle will be a risk its not worth it ,we are about 40 years to late on this one ,we have to be honest not sit with fingers crossed from one angler to another i wish you well and tight lines,,ps dog walkers walk past ,we sit for hours ,lets not ruin what we have our numbers are going down theirs are going up...fact,

@@robertcourt8593 see answer below,

stephen isom Hi Stephen, how wrong can you be? Anglers do not sit close to birds nests. Pegs almost always occupy a clear area of the bankside. Birds will only nest when they feel safe, in the vegetation a few feet away. I have had wrens, nuthatches, kingfishers, wagtails and of course robins spend most of the day with me in my peg. Once I even had a water rail feed for hours within twenty feet of me. Please don't make comments that are just not true. We do not sit by nests, we do not cause the bird to abandon nests and birds will happily tolerate human proximity as long as they feel safe. I have a blackbird that nests within a couple of feet of my backdoor. It has the whole garden available yet it opted to go right by the door that we throw open and regularly pass by. Your argument has passion and emotion and it panders to the politically correct namby pamby brigade but it has no basis in fact. And just putting the word FACT at the end of a few sentences does not make it true. FACT!

Paul, spot on ! I included the same reason in one of the sections of the closed season questionnaire. Which as mentioned was way to long, as most of these consultations are ( made that way to get fewer responses !! ). Its such a daft situation. And im not a river angler!

What a stupid and ignorant statement to make. A reflection of yourself?