Every year, the Environment Agency runs a prize draw for anglers taking part in its River Tyne Angler Logbook Scheme for salmon and sea trout. Four winners, who all filled in a pocket diary detailing their salmon and sea trout catches during the 2012 fishing season, have been announced.
Rory Maguire of Weybridge, Surrey, won a gift voucher donated by Orvis UK; David Thompson of Hunwick, Crook, County Durham won a 13ft Gordon fly rod supplied by Sharpe’s of Aberdeen; George Hope of Howden le Wear, County Durham won a Hardy Carryall bag from Frasers of Gateshead and Lawrence Surtees of Brancepeth, County Durham took home a 10ft Greys GRXi spinning rod provided by Harris Sportsmail.
The draw was made by John Milford QC, Chairman of the Get Hooked on Fishing Charitable Trust.
Monitoring the River Tyne’s fish stocks
Niall Cook, environmental monitoring officer at the Environment Agency, said:
“The information that anglers give us about their catches is really important to help us better monitor stocks and the ongoing improvements to fish passage, water quality and juvenile salmonid habitat, which are helping to ensure that the River Tyne remains the best salmon fishing river in England and Wales.
The logbook scheme allows us to collect information over and above what we get from the mandatory rod licence returns made by anglers and with nearly 300 taking part in the scheme last season, it’s a great example of how the angling community are helping us to monitor the health of our rivers.”
The Tyne Angler Logbook Scheme was set up in 2004 to help assess the impact of the New Tyne Crossing tunnel on stocks of salmon and sea trout but now forms part of a wider programme of Environment Agency ‘index river’ monitoring to manage stocks of these species both in the Tyne and more widely.
Anglers are invited to fill in a pocket diary to collect detailed information on their catches and catch rates of these species of fish.
Any anglers interested in joining the scheme for 2013 can visit the Environment Agency website or call Niall Cook on 0191 203 4130
The prize draw for the Tyne Logbook Scheme is kindly sponsored by fishing tackle suppliers Orvis UK, Sharpe’s of Aberdeen, Frasers of Gateshead and Harris Sportsmail.
