With continuing criticism over the Environment Agency’s river protection record, some anglers have responded angrily this week over its decision to spend almost £110,000 on three ‘Area Beaver Specialists’. This comes in spite of ongoing funding challenges, and the body having its budget slashed from £11.6m to £7m between 2010 and 2021.
“Talk about fiddling while Rome burns!” remarked river angler and author John Bailey. “Our authorities seem to think fatuous PR exercises will deflect attention from the disasters they’ve overseen,” he said, adding that there needed to be “a root and branch reform of management for our rivers, in what’s becoming a life and death question for many.”
In response, the agency wished to clarify that the beaver specialists were not funded by rod licence money. A spokesperson said that “the reintroduction of the Eurasian beaver will improve biodiversity, including in fish populations; create resilient and thriving rivers and wetlands; and slow, store and filter water to help mitigate against flooding and drought.”
