Rivers - fishermen help keep the salmon swimming
We want clean, healthy rivers full of fish and other creatures. And so do people who enjoy fishing.
We work with local fishing groups and landowners to keep the riverbanks protected from grazing animals and farm chemicals.
Farm animals' hooves trample the banks and churn up mud in the water. Muddy water stops fish like salmon from breeding because they need clean gravel on the riverbed to lay their eggs on. Animals also eat the plants on the riverbank, which are home to the insects that the fish eat and are important hiding places for bigger creatures like water voles and otters. So fencing farm animals away from the riverbanks means cleaner water, more plants, more insects and more fish.
But don't fishermen take out all the fish?
Fishermen follow rules which mean they can't go fishing when the fish are breeding and some areas also have rules about how many people are allowed to fish and how many fish they are allowed to take out of the water. Often the fish are put straight back in the water after being caught.
Home help for our otters
Otters dig out a large holes in the riverbank called a holts to rest, sleep and breed in. Our staff and volunteers have built artifical holts to encourage otters to move into new areas along the rivers.
We survey the holts and the river banks to check where otters are living so we can help protect them. Otters are very shy creatures but you can see where they have been by looking for thier footprints and their droppings, which are called spraints.
Although otters died out in most of the UK in the 1900's due to polluted water, they never left Northumberland National Park and now thier numbers are now increasing, thanks to the clean water, plenty of fish and ready-made homes.
