STOP PRESS!
New Contact Details:
From now on, all correspondence to the Trust should be sent to:
Carmarthenshire Rivers Trust
Afallon
Dryslwyn
Carms. SA32 8QY
The Trust's Afonydd Sir Gaerfyrddin Project Office remains at:
The Coach House
Pumsaint
Llanwrda
Carms. SA19 8UW
For new details of "Who's Who" in the Trust, see "The Trust" menu on left of this page.
Chain Saw courses for local Angling Associations.
The Trust has just organised a training day in chain-saw use - safety, maintenance, sharpening etc. This was provided free to personnel from 5 local Angling Associations who are members of the Trust. A qualified instructor ran the day's training at the end of which the participants received a Certificate in chain-saw handling.
The Associations involved were: River Tawe AA; Carmarthen & District AA; Ammanford AA; Gwaun Cae Gurwen AA and: Swansea Amateurs AA.
The cost of the course was covered by a grant received from the Countryside Council for Wales.
There will be further courses organised in chain saw utilisation and also brush-cutting.
Welsh Game Fair - 19/20 June 2010
The Trust had a stand at the Welsh Game Fair at Golden Grove, Carmarthenshire on 19 and 20 June 2010. Many interested members of the public visted and learnt what we are doing on the County's rivers under our WAG/EFF Afonydd Sir Gaerfyrddin project.
More on the Signal Crayfish.
Yesterday 11 June 2010, volunteers of the Trust took a Technical Adviser from the Fisheries Department of Environment Agency Wales to the site and found live signal crayfish specimens ranging from half an inch to mature size. These have been taken by the Agency for analysis and evaluation.
The EAW will now involve CEFAS and the CCW and they will determine the best way to deal with the problem.
As a consequence of this threat, the Carmarthenshire Rivers Trust has decided to undertake a full survey of this tributary and its feeders. This will include a thorough search for these creatures in order to determine the extent of the infestation.
Our results will be inserted on Arc-view and forwarded to the EAW.
June 2010
C.R.T. alerts Environment Agency Wales of presence of invasive Signal Crayfish in Tywi tributary!
See News section for more details and photos.
These Signal Cray Fish have not been previously reported (to EAW) in any of the rivers of Carmarthenshire.
Prudent management through linking of projects:
The CRT has been engaged in more projects to improve the county’s river environment. For two of these projects, the Trust has been able to complete them in a cost effective manner – using waste material coming from one project as a raw material basis for another.
The work done was on the River Mynys, an important tributary of the Tywi, joing the main river near Llanwrda.
See News section for more details and photographs.
Water Quality Improvement.
In-river work is only allowed by the EAW between 15 April and end of season. Since that date has now passed for this year, the CRT has been busy preparing for its programme of improving water quality through adding lime to reduce acidity in the major tributaries at the headwaters of our rivers. We have been working in close collaboration with the EAW and the Forestry Commission, the latter agreeing to the siting and erection of a lime storage facility in its forests near to the source of the Doethie. All consents have been received, including from the Countryside Commission for Wales.
The facility has been financed by the EAW and will be filled with 300 tons of lime, paid for with funds from the CRT’s Afonydd Sir Gaerfyrddin Programme (WAG/EFF - see below).
The lime will be distributed into the Doethie and Pysgotwr streams on a phased basis over the next three years by CRT volunteers and EAW staff.
This is an excellent example of close collaboration between the CRT as a voluntary organisation/ charity and official bodies - the EAW, Forestry Commission Wales and the CCW.
See News section for more details.
Afonydd Sir Gaerfyrddin - the Project
On 19 November 2009, Rural Affairs Minister for Wales, Elin Jones said: “I’m pleased to be able to announce a further £4 million worth of European Fisheries Funding to support a wide range of innovative projects. These projects will greatly benefit the Welsh fishing industry, and will also help us achieve the aims we have set out in the Welsh Fisheries Strategy, which has been designed to support the development of viable and sustainable fisheries in Wales while safeguarding the environment.” The award made to Carmarthenshire is the only one made specifically to an individual county.
More specifically the award (of £525,000) was made to the Carmarthenshire Rivers Trust (CRT), a charity formed in July 2007 to support it with its primary objective and Mission Statement - “To restore the rivers and wetlands of Carmarthenshire to their former glory”. The funds will be used entirely for the rivers and will finance a wide range of corrective activities that the CRT proposes to undertake over the next three years. These activities were set out in a detailed Project Plan and submitted, under the title "Afonydd Sir Gaerfyrddin", to the Welsh Assembly Government in open competition for European Fisheries Fund and WAG grants.
Objectives:
The overall aim of this three year project is to restore access to spawning areas, protect river habitat and improve water quality for migratory and resident fish in Carmarthenshire. The funds provided by the EU/WAG allow the Trust to address a wide range of major problems through the implementation of a detailed programme of specific actions within the Welsh Fisheries Strategy.
For details of the problems that the ASG project is addressing, please go to the Problems section of this website - see link in Menu on left of this page. For details of the Project itself please go to The Trust section in the same menu.