Welsh fishy stories

Last year saw a spate of anti-goldprospecting stories in the local press in North Wales. One headline claimed that thousands had joined a goldrush, creating a panic, which in the story then dissolved to hundreds, then down to about 13 on average in one spot on the Afon Mawddach, the best known goldbearing river, leaving a mass of rubbish. Completely barmy headline dishonesty. Apart from the brave few who occasionally dare the wrath of the local forestry manager, there are occasionally a few tourists with nothing more than a pan and a few hand tools, trying to have a bit of fun, but not getting much, if anything.
What was the panic all about?
One self-appointed fishing club maniac it seems, pretending to be a water bailiff; he is called Vic. I had often seen Vic walking his dogs on the aptly named Goldroad, which leads from the village of Ganllwyd up to the Gwynfyndd goldmine. In his blog on the online Cambrian News he claimed that goldpanners were stopping fish from spawning, and kingfishers from nesting.
The truth is more interesting. Reading some contributions on a flyfishing forum, it appears that locals like Vic are hogging the few accessible spots to harvest the largest salmon from the Mawddach to sell to the local hotels and other outlets, not in a sporting manner, but using strings of prawns on their lines. This has put off visitors from buying licences for sport fly fishing. Vic proudly displays his catches on the local fishing club website. He was fishing through October, during the spawning season!
It is hardly a wonder that Vic feels compelled to pass the blame on for the supposed decline of spawning salmon on the Mawddach. He must be very disappointed that the North Wales Wildlife officers are totally ignoring his demands to prosecute goldpanners. Firstly, there aren't that many, and they aren't doing any measurable damage anyway. This is a case of attempting to spoil the fun for others by manipulation of the gullible press. The wildlife officers should be investigating the commercial level of fishing for profit by Vic and his fellow club members.
I will be lobbying the environmental bodies to take a closer look at their dubious and hypocritical activities. For a start, if salmon really are so highly endangered, all activities in the river should be brought to a halt, including fishing, and clear forestry felling. The irony is that the salmon appear to be recovering enough despite the sustained level of fishing by locals at Ganllwyd. Vic may be doing his best to wipe out the spawning population, but he is causing hardly a dent. Same goes for goldpanners; we could try to dig up the entire gravel beds along the Mawddach, but what a task that would be by hand!
 


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http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,59418.msg288650.html#msg288650

   Messed up stuff.   We have the Tree Huggers here that try to put the brakes on anything .

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http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,59418.msg288658.html#msg288658

Thanks all. The wildlife protection team (police) are now aware. Prawns may not be the 'natural bait' which are required to be used under the byelaws, and therefore their use could be a criminal offence. Sale of any fish is also a criminal offence, and it is often rumoured that the local hotels are well supplied with untagged wild salmon.
Despite the total lack of any data on fish spawning on the goldbearing areas of the Mawddach I will be observing the clear water directive, which requires that there should be 'no potentially damaging operations' during the spawning season. End of March will see me and a few partners in the river with a pump, classifier, sluice and pan. No fish will be killed during the course of our prospecting, unlike the local prawn slinging salmon decimators. The wildlife police have my name, number and vehicle registration, and have never contacted me to discuss the dangers of digging gravel, stealing gold from the Crown, or the huge piles of rubbish Vic likes to accuse us panners of dropping by the river.

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http://www.thunting.com/smf/index.php/topic,59418.msg288701.html#msg288701

   This stuff is a Never Ending Story of Stupidity.    They only want a few to touch mother Earth and then are the first to complain the price of a TV went up because the Price of Lead went up, the price of copper went up, the price of Ceramics went up, the price of Plastics went up.   LOL   

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