The Fisheries Improvement Programme Roger Handford Environment Agency   Anglers often ask us about how we spend the money raised from the sale of fishing licences.  Whenever faced with this question, I pause to reflect on the wide range of activities this income pays for in order to protect and improve fish stocks and fisheries.  Our work includes saving fish if there is too much water (floods) or if there is not enough (drought). We manage the impacts being caused by the climate emergency. We improve habitats for fish and provide new access and facilities for anglers. Through targeted enforcement action, and working with other organisation such as the Angling Trust, we protect stocks from illegal fishing. The list continues; we grow and restock fish; we eradicate invasive species and, working with partners, we encourage people to take up fishing for the first time or to return after a break. For people who want more details there is an annual report which provides more information on everything we do in fisheries.

The number of licences we sell determines our budget and the amount of fisheries work we can do. Recent years have seen the number of anglers falling. This has resulted in us needing to adopt new ways of working and in particular an emphasis on joining up with partners who have similar interests and who can contribute time or additional funds.    The Fisheries Improvement Programme (FIP), is a good example of how we do this.  It was first established in 2015 and involves us reinvesting licence payers money into projects which benefit anglers and fish stocks. Over the last 5 years we have spent £3.5m in this way and completed 500 projects across the length and breadth of the country. We have worked with hundreds of different partners from organisations with a national presence such as the Rivers Trust, the Wild Trout Trust, the Canal and River Trust and the Angling Trust to small angling clubs and local community groups. We estimate these partners have themselves contributed over £5.5m to the programme in this time.

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