Throughout the world, conservation of the environment is a major issue. The planet that was once taken for granted has proved to be a complex, delicate place, and no matter where we look, we find signs of environmental degradation but as individuals, most of us feel helpless to do anything about it.
Anglers, you would think, at least have the perfect escape, go fishing! But no, when we get to the river, we find even more environmental degradation. Polluted water, over-abstracted flows, canalized channels, desecrated riparian trees, loss of viable habitats and over predation by cormorants and otters, etc. all leading to diminishing fish stocks.
Prior to the 1960's Norfolk was home to some of Britain's finest fishing. The Broads were Mecca to anglers throughout the country, and the upper-rivers were famous for catches of specimen roach but all that was to change. Throughout the 1970's and 80's an appalling decline took place on these waters. Phosphates from sewage collected in the Broads over-enriched the water, causing algae to proliferate. On the Thurne Broads a gradual salination of the water caused by deep drainage of the coastal marshes provided the perfect environment for the toxic algae Prymnesium to bloom, resulting in numerous massive fish kills. And with the same drainage systems lowering water levels throughout the broads, and sea levels rising, saltwater tides became increasingly able to push far up into the broads with fatal consequences for any freshwater fish trapped in its path.
As if this lot wasn't enough, the degradation of Norfolk's rivers continued as water authority engineers continued dredging the life out of the upper rivers in order to improve land drainage, destroying vital fish habitats and spawning sites in their wake. Within 20 years Norfolk's fishing had declined into a shadow of its former glory until eventually, the county's anglers were forced to fight back.
The catalyst came in 1985 when the future of Norfolk's River Wensum between Taverham and Norwich was put at risk. At that time the Norwich city's potable water supply came from abstracting the Wensum on the outskirts of the city. In response to Government directives to find an alternative standby source of water, Anglian Water Authority (AWA) sunk new boreholes in the waterworks area to tap into the groundwater. Soon this supply was finding its way into our homes, but instead of the clean drinking water its customer’s pay for, they were treated to a disgusting supply of chemical cocktail. AWA were quick to their defences, blaming the problem on rotting leaves. The truth, it seemed, was far more unsavoury. Only a stone's throw away from the waterworks a large chemical manufacturing company had for many years been sending all manner of noxious substances down the drains to the AWA sewage treatment works. The corrosive effect of this effluent on these drains must have been substantial as it was only a matter of time before it found it's way into the groundwater, and subsequently into the public water supply.
The ensuing scandal became publicized in the national media and AWA responded by proposing to construct a new abstraction plant on the Wensum at Costessey, several miles upstream of the contaminated area. From here they would pipe the water to Norwich, thus threatening Norfolk's last remaining Class A river fishery with greatly diminished flows and siltation of the riverbed. This fishery was nationally renowned for its specimen chub and barbel.
In response, perhaps for the first time ever, conservationists and anglers joined forces and the ‘Save The Wensum Action Group’ was formed to oppose the pipeline and demand that the polluter should pay to clean up the contaminated area and it's groundwater. For several months a vigorous battle ensued which elevated anglers in Norfolk into a strong campaigning force for conservation. Nevertheless, in the end SWAG failed to achieve it's objectives. The pipeline was eventually constructed and, as predicted, the river suffered the consequences. No one should underestimate how hard the anglers fought in that campaign, and although ultimately the battle was lost, they achieved a unity of purpose rarely found in angling.
As SWAG slowly waned, the anglers that had participated in the campaign agreed that the collective spirit that had been kindled within the organization should not be lost to the county. From the seeds of this the Norfolk Anglers Conservation Association (NACA) was born.
At its inaugural meeting the new association was enthusiastically welcomed, its committee was formed and membership taken. Soon after, its objectives were set out in its constitution.
To campaign for and promote a clean and healthy aquatic environment in which all forms of wildlife can thrive and prosper.
To unite the various branches of angling and present to the public the true image of anglers as caring conservationists.
To take whatever action is necessary to safeguard and promote angling in Norfolk.
In its formative years the NACA committee consisted of so many well known anglers that it was like a "Who's Who" of angling, which undoubtedly helped promote the association's image and attract media attention. Time was spent in meetings with organizations such as the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Friends of the Earth, English Nature, Anglian Water Authority and the Broads Authority, identifying common ground, confronting issues and where necessary putting on pressure.
While the association was getting a lots of media attention and airing its concerns in the newspapers, on radio and TV, on a practical level it was another year or two before it was able to undertake its own conservation projects. The first step into practical conservation started by taking on 1.5 miles of the upper-Wensum at Lyng to undertake a ground-breaking fishery habitat restoration project in an attempt to begin reversing the fortunes of the river. Despite being damaged by dredging in the 50s, this stretch of river had fairly good flows that could be manipulated in various ways and by undertaking this work, it was hoped two objectives would be achieved. Firstly it could prove the viability of restoring a dredger damaged river channels, thus providing a blueprint for others to follow, and secondly, by creating a suitable habitat and stocking it with barbel, the future for the species in the Wensum might be assured, upstream of the now dwindling abstraction threatened stocks at Costessey.
This project has been ongoing ever since. Known as the ‘Sayer’s Meadow Project’, work was started with the construction of two large shallow gravel riffles to facilitate improved spawning and increase the elevation of the flow. To complement this, several areas of the river were narrowed and dug into deeper pools. Hundreds of riverside willows and alders were planted. Flow deflectors were installed and two off-river backwaters were created to provide fry-refuges. The combination of these efforts improved the fishery beyond measure. 1,600 4 to 8-inch barbel were also stocked into the fishery over a period of five years. These fish grew at a prodigious rate rate, eventually becoming huge specimens of national renown that threatened to take the British record. Sadly the reckless reintroduction of otters to the river quickly resulted in the destruction of the barbel fishery throughout the Wensum.
Over the years another stretch of the Wensum at Lyng called Sparham Hall was taken on with the intention of launching a roach habitat project. Alongside this, two gravel pits fisheries at Lyng known as Sparham Pools and Square Meadow Lake were also acquired. The success of the Sayers Meadow Project led NACA to eventually take on the old Costessey Point Fishery and undertaking a second river habitat restoration project to mitigate against the problems caused by over-abstraction and habitat loss.
At its peak NACA membership stood at over 900 individuals and 22 affiliated angling clubs. By its constant campaigning over various Broads and upper-river problems, it started winning numerous victories. It succeeded in getting Anglian Water to install phosphate strippers at it's Sewage Treatment Works along the upper-Wensum and also pushed the authorities into become more proactive in trying to protect the Thurne Broads from environmental decline. This included getting the old NRA to install and operate salt food barriers at the Potter Heigham boat yards. These same barriers are now operated by the Environment Agency and over the years they have saved the lives of many thousands of roach over-wintering in the boatyards.
Besides its practical conservation work and its campaigning as a pressure group, the association also suceeded in setting up two Fishery Action Plan groups for the Broads and the Wensum. It also took on important roles within the consultative councils of the Broads Authority and various other influential working groups.
In 1998, following the completion of gravel extractions at a large complex of gravel pits on the outskirts of Norwich called Bawburgh Lakes. NACA was invited to take on the management of the site and turn it into a viable fishery. Going far beyond this remit, NACA succeeded in creating a nationally famous fishery. Alongside managing the fishery, regular open day events were also held at the lakes, with coaching for children, pond-dipping and various angling workshops taking place.
Eventually in 2011 Bawburgh Lakes was sold off by Cemex the gravel company to a private concern and NACA gave up its involvement in the fishery. By this time most of the old stalwarts of the original NACA committee had moved on and new faces had taken over. Somewhere along the way the new committee failed to meet the associations constitutional objectives and much of its original vitality was lost. Eventually in 2018 NACA was put into dissolution at an EGM called by its members. By then membership had slumped to little over 100, most of whom were members of its fisheries at Lyng.
Prior to NACA’s dissolution, the active members of the Lyng fisheries took the situation in hand by severing the Lyng fisheries from NACA and setting up the Wensum Anglers Conservation Association to take them on. The aims of the association are to carry on with the practical fisheries conservation work at Lyng, to move forward the habitat restoration further at Sayers Meadow, to restart the long awaited roach conservation project at the Sparham Hall and to revitalise the fishery management of our Lakes.
