What makes a successful Passport?

“The success of a passport scheme, however well promoted it is, depends ultimately on good fish stocks.”

This may be an obvious statement but to an increasing extent, the health of stocks in our rivers and stillwaters is uncertain. Even when fish numbers are strong, it is a situation that cannot be taken for granted. This was a particularly harsh lesson learnt by Wye salmon anglers during the last century.

However, it applies to all types of fish and to all types of angler, at all times.

A great deal of time, effort and resources goes into ensuring the aquatic environment is right for fish populations to thrive and this is the footing on which a passport scheme can be built.

The Wye & Usk Foundation, the charity behind the Fishing Passport, has been working for over twenty years to restore, protect and increase fish stocks of all species. This effort has only been possible with the generous support of many anglers locally and from across the UK. There have been many strides forward, a few steps back and there is still much to do.

The one certainty is that without this work the Fishing Passport would not exist today. There would be fewer opportunities for you to access rivers and stillwaters that contained fewer fish.

An Environment Agency survey in 2015 found that anglers in England spend, on average, anything between £700 and £1,700 on their fishing each year (tackle, permits, travel etc).

So to any angler who uses the Passport scheme, we ask you consider giving just 10% of your annual fishing spend to a charity who is working hard to protect what fish we have and to restore what we’ve lost.

Or please take a moment to think of it this way: without fish to catch, even the best bargain for that new rod you’ve been dreaming of is a waste of money.