Dear Sir

Please find below my response to the above consultation.

I have been involved in Angling and work to conserve the rivers of North Wales for more than 35 years

having been an active member of four Angling Clubs fishing the Dee Conwy Llugwy Lledr Clwyd and Elwy.

I also sit on the committees of the following bodies. Dee and Clwyd LFaG,  Clwyd Conwy and Gwynnedd

Rivers Trust and the Federation of Clwyd Angling Clubs.

I have serious concerns about the way NRW seem to be treating the concerns of Angling and there statutory duties

under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act.

The recent apparent disregard of almost unanimous objections to the closure of the Hatcheries in Wales, refusing to even acknowledge

any merit in any other research as credible beggars belief. I attended at Coed y Brennin and left shaking my head!!

The role of NRW in the debacle of the spawning redds in Llanwrst seems unclear and I await the publishing of the official report on the

matter with interest.

On my local river the Elwy the way NRW have again disregarded any local objections to the Hydro Scheme at Maes Elwy is very

disappointing. Permitting is done in Cardiff so any local input is diluted. A scheme further up the Elwy at Cefn has been beset with problems

and has caused considerable decolouration to the river for many months.A sink hole stopping all water going through the fish pass at Maes Elwy

took NRW 3 months to fix .Their main concern was finding someone to pay for the repair rather than getting the job done. They had a duty to

sort this out as it happened during the main run of Sea Trout in the Elwy. The temporary repair only took a few hours to complete.

The reorganisation of staff in North Wales seem to have left us without a dedicated fishery team here. Several key team members seem to have

taken voluntary redundancy and have not been replaced. This is to say the least very disappointing.  

NRW's role just now seems to be as an arm of the Assembly pushing through policy with no regard to any local concerns.

There seems to me to be a diminishment of any residual EA policies with CCW's ideals now coming to the fore.

I fear for the future for our rivers in Wales if this type of administration continues.

Yours

David Gartside.