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Download
the WTT Spring 2005 Auction Catalogue
by clicking
here
Download
the WTT Spring 2005 Auction Press Release
by clicking
here
The
Wild Trout Society
A
year of prograss
By
Mike Weaver, Chair of WTS
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The
Wild Trout Society, the organisation created
to provide a powerful united voice for all
who love wild trout, completed its first
year on 1st March 1998 - a year in which
the society made rapid strides towards achieving
its initial objectives, and which culminated
with the publication of its first Yearbook.
The
rehabilitation and improvement of wild
trout habitat is at the forefront of WTS
activities and the first project at Amesbury
on the River Avon was completed in October
1997. A 400yd stretch was re-profiled
to reduce the width, increase flow and
depth, and to restore the pool/rifle sequence.
The Game Conservancy will monitor the
success of this joint project with the
E.A. and Salisbury & District Angling
Club through regular surveys.
The
first phase of a wild trout project on
the Duchy of Cornwall fishery on the upper
Dart system started on the 15th March
1998 with the introduction of voluntary
catch-and-release on three tributaries
and a slot limit on the West Dart. The
aim of the project is to restore the middle
sized and larger trout, which many experienced
Dartmoor anglers believe to have declined.
Funding is now being sought for a major
study into one of these streams, looking
at issues like spawning gravels, invertebrates,
acidification, erosion and the impact
of livestock levels, with a view to producing
a blue-print for managing fragile moorland
fisheries.
Early
in 1998 the WTS announced The Famous Grouse
Wild Trout Society Conservation Award
for excellence in the field of wild trout
management and conservation. The award
with a prize of £2000, is open to angling
organisations, individuals, owners and
managers, and will be made to what the
independent panel of judges considers
the best wild trout project on river or
lake. The presentation will be made at
a dinner sponsored by the Arundell Arms
Hotel. |
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