Public meeting over Roswell Pits marina

Plans to turn Roswell Pits into a marina will be discussed at a public meeting on Tuesday.

The famed predator water on the outskirts of Ely, Cambs, has been bought by businessman Jeremy Tyrrell, who wants to re-open disused moorings to create a haven for narrowboats.

But anglers and conservationists are fearful of the impact the plan could have on the lakes, which are connected to the Great Ouse at Foremill Wash.

Now a group called Local Campaigners for the Protection of Rural Ely (LCPRE) is holding a public meeting to discuss the future of the venue.

Mr Tyrrell is already in a stand-off with Ely Sailing Club over access to Roswell, which is also boat fished by pike and zander anglers.

Dr Andrew Balmford, a member of LCPRE, told the Cambridge Evening News: "We have not had a public debate on the future of the site, so we are creating a forum to begin initiating that."

Campaigners are meeting at the City of Ely Community College at 8pm. For further details, call Dr Sarah Hall on 07791 512296.

***How the controversy unfolded - click here. For coverage in local paper the Ely Standard click here.

Scientists study muskie spawning habitats

Environmental bodies in some states of America are streets ahead of us when it comes to fish conservation.

They've realised climate change could be impacting on spawning success of muskie and pike, so studies are being launched now to find out where fish spawn and how these areas can be best protected.

Should we be campaigning for similar research to be carried out in areas of the UK where pike populations appear in decline, or exhibit missing year classes..?

Click here for story.

More on pike conservation, US style

More interesting thoughts on pike conservation through protecting and enhancing their spawning areas comes from the Minesota Department of Natural Resources, in the US.

"Many northern pike spawning areas have been lost to drainage, dredging and shoreline development," an article on its website headed Pike Management says.

"They are destroyed by the farmer who drains a seasonally flooded wetland adjoining a stream or lake, and by the cabin owner who kills the cattails along the shore of a shallow bay.

"These areas must be protected through shore land regulations that prevent draining, filling and other destruction of shoreline wetlands. Also important are regulations that prevent wholesale removal of the shallow-water aquatic weeds that provide cover to young northern pike and their prey."

Notwithstanding the ongoing affects of climate change on our lowland rivers and the way they'renow managed to minimise flood risk, how many waters is the above true of..?

But the Minesota DNR is streets ahead of the Environment Agency when it comes to the solution: "Where northern pike spawning areas are lacking, a fish manager can create habitat by building a low dam to flood low-lying land near a lake.

The area fills with spring runoff, the northern pike spawn and the fry grow to fingerlings.

They then escape or, if there is a barrier between the lake and spawning area, are released to the main body of water."

To read the full article, click here.

Protect our big pike call in the US

American anglers are being called on to conserve large fish, as the message about the damage their removal does to fisheries begins to hit home on the other side of the 'pond..

Click here for story.