Tuesday 27 December 2016

The state of our rivers

 Dragged myself down to Glandyfi layby on Christmas morning. Brisk wind up the estuary and not a lot about. 2 distant grey geese encouraged me to get the scope out, they were greylags. Absolutely nothing on the track up to Dyfi Jct, heard a blackbird and a dunnock, heads down I think.
Re the Teifi spill. Not heard the details yet but it sounds horrendous and its about time the farming comm really started caring about something other than sheep, cattle and the bank balance. In recent years going about mid Wales on various surveys I always look at the rivers and streams and it is a fact that the fish popns are weak, if they exist at all.
 Beautiful rivers devoid of fish and I put most of that down to livestock access to a vast % of the waterside.  The sizeable Afon Banwy and Gam join at Llangadfan, fantastic watercourses but the fishing fraternity there have abandoned both and I couldn't find any inverts at all! Local farmer blamed it on headwater afforestation, may not help but not the main cause. Likewise the mid-upper Teifi reaches, always disappoints me that I have only ever seen a few migratory fish or river minnows and the latter are near confined to minor tributaries.
Post Brexit, will it get worse? We really do have to start looking after what little we have left!
Sorry re the rant, but.
  
Roy Bamford