River Swale Preservation Society

Idle and Thackley AA is a member of the above Society which was formed in January 1988 with the objective of improving the quality of fish life in the River Swale in North Yorkshire.

The other Associate Members of the Society are as follows : Billingham SAC , Black Ox AC , Boroughbridge & DAC , Bradford City AA , Bradford No 1 AA , Bramley Ward & D , Brighouse AA , Brompton AC , Darlington Brown Trout , Ferryhill Dist AC ,  Helperby and Braffferton AC , Kirby Fleetham & DAC , Knaresborough Piscatorials , Leeds DASA , Leeming RAF , Middlesborough AC , Northallerton & DAC , Oak AC , Richmond AS , Stockton AC , Stokesley AC , Thirsk AC , Thornaby AA , West Riding Anglers and Wilton AC.

Since its formation in 1988 the Society has worked to improve the quality of the water and the fish life in the river . Many initiatives have been undertaken some in conjunction with the Fisheries Officers of the Environment Agency . The improvement of the fish habitat by planting willows and placing groynes in the river to provide some additional protection particularly in high water spate conditions is one example. The extent of the spates is now much worse and one of the significant causes is considered to be due to the effects of un-natural moor gripping and the narrowing / dyking of the river along with the removal of bank-side trees. Some of these problems are also unfortunately the direct result of flood defence work undertaken by another arm of the Environment Agency .

The River Swale has also been affected by the continuing increase in the number of sea birds such as cormorants now descending on many freshwater sites as fish stocks in the sea continue to deteriorate. Escaped mink in some areas have also been an added problem . In terms of pollution some of the the main threats are through the use of pesticides / weed killers etc but generally the river water quality is quite good.

The Society and its member Associations constantly monitor the environment and fish life in the river. They also make sections of the River available free for the Society to run 5 major matches per year over the main sections of the river  . The surplus income raised along with other fundraising is then used by the Society to improve both the environment and restock the river . These major matches also provide useful trend information about the fish populations. 

Restocking by the Society in previous years has included Bream and more recently the emphasis has been to restock with large numbers of small Barbel .

The Society has two formal meetings per year  which are also attended  Environment Agency Fisheries Officers who provide information about research trends and their own plans for Fishery improvement. The meetings provide an opportunity debate about the status of the river and the initiatives to be undertaken during the next six months.

Contact details  for the Society are shown in P 6 Contacts . Information about the RSPS matches for the coming year can be found on P 3 Matches.