Thirteenth Annual Report for the year ended 31st March, 1964

This is the thirteenth Annual report of the Cumberland River Board on information of its activities and responsibilities on river management in its area between the beginning of April 1963, to the end of March 1964. The report contains 5 main sections on water resources, land drainage, fisheries, pollution, and finally the expenditure and income for the 12 month period. The first area that the report deals with is water resources, which includes information on the completion of gauging stations, abstraction of water and rainfall and river flow. The section on land drainage looks at work on improvement schemes, floods and information on maintenance work carried out on rivers including Wampool, Waver, Wiza, Derwent, Cocker, Keekle, Marron, Ehen, Irt, Esk, Mite, Lowther, Eden, Caldew and Petteril. The fisheries section covers 5 districts of the River Eden, Esk, Derwent, Ellen and South West Cumberland. It includes angling information and a general report for salmon and sea trout, brown trout and freshwater fish. Fish disease and fish hatchery are also covered as well as Byelaws and fisheries protection. The fourth section on pollution deals with water quality and information on sewage and trade effluents. The River Boards preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

Fourteenth Annual Report for the year ended 31st March, 1965

This is the fourteenth Annual report of the Cumberland River Board on information of its activities and responsibilities on river management in its area between the beginning of April 1964, to the end of March 1965. The report contains 5 main sections on water resources, land drainage, fisheries, pollution, and finally the expenditure and income for the 12 month period. The first area that the report deals with is water resources, which includes information on the completion of gauging stations, abstraction of water and rainfall and river flow. The section on land drainage looks at work on improvement schemes, floods and information on maintenance work carried out on rivers including Wampool, Waver, Wiza, Ellen, Cocker, Keekle, Marron, Ehen, Bleng, Esk, Mite, Caldew and Petteril. The fisheries section covers 5 districts of the River Eden, Esk, Derwent, Ellen and South West Cumberland. It includes angling information and a general report for salmon and sea trout, brown trout and freshwater fish. Fish disease and fish hatchery are also covered as well as Byelaws and fisheries protection. The fourth section on pollution deals with water quality and information on sewage and trade effluents. The River Boards preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

South Lancashire Fisheries Advisory Committee 11th December, 1974

This is the report from the South Lancashire Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 11th December 1974. The report looks at information on the Water Bailiffs establishment, including the organisation and the duties of both the Fisheries Inspector and the Senior Bailiff. It also covers the comments from the Regional Fisheries Officer on the report on 'Coarse Fisheries', and information on the discharge to the River Ribble from Clitheroe sewage works. Item number 7 looks at the report by the Unit Fisheries Officer on fisheries activities. This looks at coarse fish salvage and stocking, fisheries management, poaching, fish mortalities, and the fish monitoring figures for areas on the Rivers Ribble and Hodder. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

Lune, Wyre & Furness Fisheries Advisory Committee 19th January, 1976.

This is the report from the Lune, Wyre and Furness Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 19th January 1976. The report contains information on land drainage representation on local committees, fisheries activities report, Heysham and Lancaster sewage disposal, planning study for the post 1981 period and progress made in implementing the recommendations contained in the 'Taking Stock' publication. The section on fisheries activities reported by area fisheries officers looks at fish taken for stripping at River Lune Broadraine and Northern area, the presence of feral mink, fish mortalities at Killington Beck and number of fish counted through the fish monitoring stations at River Leven and River Lune. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

Regional Fisheries Advisory Committee 9th February, 1976.

This is the report from the Regional Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 9th February 1976. The report contains information on the proceedings of the Local Fisheries Advisory Committee and recommendations for these committees and Worthington Coarse Fish Unit. It also covers fishing licence duties, fisheries improvement work on the River Leven, proposed new code of fisheries byelaws, the seminar on water conditions harmful to fish life and Heysham and Lancaster sewage disposal. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

Lune, Wyre & Furness Fisheries Advisory Committee 10th April, 1978

This is the report from the Lune, Wyre and Furness Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 10th April, 1978. It covers information on fisheries income and expenditure, investigations for future water supplies to South West Cumbria, the Morecambe-Heysham sewage scheme crossing of the River Lune, and terminated angling leases. It also includes the report by the area fisheries officer on river conditions and fishing, and migratory fish movement and spawning on the River Wyre. Included in this report is also Langcliffe and Middleton Hatcheries, the stocking of brown trout by the Angling Associations, the concern of predators and fish disease. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

South Lancashire Fisheries Advisory Committee 12th January 1977.

This is the report from the South Lancashire Fisheries Advisory Committee meeting, which was held on the 12th January 1977. The report contains sections on fish mortalities at Henthorn on the 10th July, 1976, fisheries activities, fish stocking, eel fishing on estuarial waters, and infectious Pancreatic Necrosis highlighting its prevention on imports of salmonid fish and ova. The section on fish mortalities looks at fish deaths on the River Ribble caused by a discharge from Clitheroe Sewage Works. The report on fisheries activities includes information on artificial propagation and numbers of fish passing through Waddow Weir, Winckley Hall and Locks Weir between January to November 1976. The Fisheries Advisory Committee was part of the Regional Water Authorities, in this case the North West Water Authority. This preceded the Environment Agency which came into existence in 1996.

Report on proposed improvements to Teignmouth Harbour

This is the Report on Proposed Improvements to Teignmouth Harbour from 15th March, 1971 prepared for the Teignmouth Harbour Commission. It reviews the Scheme III Breakwater along the lines recommended by the Hydraulics Research Station and the implications of deepening the berths at the Eastern Quay to a depth of thirteen feet below chart datum. The layout of the Hydraulics Research Scheme III Breakwater, as described in Para.16 of their Report No. EX489 dated April 1970, is shown on the accompanying Key Plan to a scale of 1:2500. It contains a subsoil survey and boreholes structure. It goes through the permissible draughts of ships and turning area, training wall, deepening of the eastern quay dredging and sewage dispersal.

Proposed Environmental Quality Standards for Nonylphenol in Water

This is the Proposed Environmental Quality Standards (EQS) for Nonylphenol in Water produced by the Environment Agency in 1997. The report reviews the properties and uses of Nonylphenol, its fate, behaviour and reported concentrations in the environment, and critically assesses available data on its toxicity and bioaccumulation. The information is used to derive EQSs for the protection of fresh and saltwater life as well as for water abstracted to potable supply.Nonylphenol (NP) is used extensively in the production of other substances such as non-ionic ethoxylate surfactants. It is through the incomplete anaerobic biodegradation of these surfactants that most nonylphenol reaches the aquatic environment in effluents, e.g. from sewage treatment works and certain manufacturing operations. It was explicitly stated by the Environment Agency that the EQS was to be derived for NP and not Nonylphenol ethoxylates. However, since NP is unlikely to be present in the aquatic environment in the absence of other nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE) degradation by-products, the toxicity, fate and behaviour of some of these (i.e. nonylphenol mono- and diethoxylates (NP1EO and NP2EO), mono- and di-nonylphenoxy carboxylic acids (NP1EC and NP2EC) have also been considered in this report. In the aquatic environment and during sewage treatment, NPEs are rapidly degraded to NP under aerobic conditions. NP may then be either fully mineralised or may be adsorbed to sediments. Since NP cannot be biodegraded under anaerobic conditions it can accumulate in sediments to high concentrations.

River Ehen and Calder sub catchment Management Plan

This is the River Ehen and Calder sub catchment management plan: Consultation Report September 1993 produced by the National Rivers Authority (NRA) North West Region in 1993. The report focuses on the management plan of both River Catchments Ehen and Calder, in North West England, UK. The Catchment Management Plan (C.M.P.) enabled the NRA to summarise the status of the catchment, identify the main issues and present its vision of the future. It provides a strategic policy framework for its Management and influences decision making leading to improvements in the water environment. The report contains sections on Description of Catchment, Catchment uses by NRA function, Target and objectives of the plan, Summary of Issues and Catchment Issues. The section on description of Catchment includes a general description, Transport, Geology, major services, summary of key details, area, topography, administrative details, main towns and population, water quality Sewage Treatment Works Trade effluent discharges, Water Resources, flood defence and land drainage and Fisheries.

River Irk intensive survey

This is the River Irk intensive survey produced by the North West Water in 1986. This report focuses on the Intensive Survey carried out on the River Irk on 15 April 1986. The river Irk was one of the most polluted rivers in North West Water's area. In dry weather the bulk of the flow in the river originated from the 3 sewage works within the catchment (Castleton ETW, Royton ETW and Oldham ETW). The river Irk was badly affected by numerous unsatisfactory storm sewage overflows (SSOs) within the catchment. Several sewerage projects had been carried out within the Irk catchment especially in the Middleton area, where earlier major redevelopment of the old town centre took place between 1969 and 1976, at which time the main sewers were reconstructed. The survey was designed to investigate the changes in the water quality of the river Irk which take place during wet weather. Because of manpower and analytical restrictions the study on Wince Brook and the river Irk upstream of Wince Brook was limited to their bottom reaches.

The Irwell. Story of an industrial river

This is the Irwell: Story of an industrial river document produced by the North West Water in 1979. This report is a leaflet format document. It focuses on the historical evolution of River Irwell, since it was “born” the river Irwell, about three hundred million years ago when shallow seas covered most of south east Lancashire and Europe to present years. It looks at Irwell’s pollution, highlighting the Irwell’s lower stretches were some of the region was the most polluted due to the population growth and establishment of industrial activities i.e. Lancashire’s great cotton industry, breach and dye works, paper mills, tanneries, chemical and gas works. Wastes from these industries were discharged directly to the river, together with crude sewage from an ever increasing population. However over the years the condition of the Irwell was gradually improved.

River Yealm SAP Consultation

This is the River Yealm Salmon Action Plan Consultation document produced by the Environment Agency in 2003. The report pays attention on the external consultation of the River Yealm Salmon Action Plan (SAP). This strategy represents an entirely new approach to salmon management within the UK and introduces the concept of river-specific salmon spawning targets as a salmon management tool. The River Yealm Salmon Action Plan follows the format of those completed for the rivers Tamar, Lynher, Tavy, Camel, Fowey and Plym. It is the final one of seven action plans that will be produced for salmon rivers managed by Cornwall Area. The River Yealm SAP contains a description of the river catchment and highlights particular features that are relevant to the salmon population and the associated fishery. Notably there are potable water abstractions in the headwaters, workings for china clay on the main tributary, two inert waste landfill sites and an aggregate quarry adjacent to the main river and inputs from several Sewage Treatment Works (STW) and two industrial estates. The main River Yealm has been designated as River Ecosystem Class 1 for its water quality objectives. This is the highest water quality target set for rivers.

A study of water quality in Baltimore Harbor

Baltimore Harbor is polluted by discharge of sewage and industrial wastes into tributary streams and peripheral waters. The Harbor is used extensively for navigation, industrial water supply, and recreation as well as for waste disposal. The degree of pollution varies from negligible in the principal fairway to severe in the innermost sections. Private industry discharges several hundred tons of acid materials daily and is also the principal source of organic pollution.

Historical knowledge of sharks: ancient science, earliest American encounters, and American science, fisheries, and utilization

In western civilization, the knowledge of the elasmobranch or selachian fishes (sharks and rays) begins with Aristotle (384–322 B.C.). Two of his extant works, the “Historia Animalium” and the “Generation of Animals,” both written about 330 B.C., demonstrate knowledge of elasmobranch fishes acquired by observation. Roman writers of works on natural history, such as Aelian and Pliny, who followed Aristotle, were compilers of available information. Their contribution was that they prevented the Greek knowledge from being lost, but they added few original observations. The fall of Rome, around 476 A.D., brought a period of economic regression and political chaos. These in turn brought intellectual thought to a standstill for nearly one thousand years, the period known as the Dark Ages. It would not be until the middle of the sixteenth century, well into the Renaissance, that knowledge of elasmobranchs would advance again. The works of Belon, Salviani, Rondelet, and Steno mark the beginnings of ichthyology, including the study of sharks and rays. The knowledge of sharks and rays increased slowly during and after the Renaissance, and the introduction of the Linnaean System of Nomenclature in 1735 marks the beginning of modern ichthyology. However, the first major work on sharks would not appear until the early nineteenth century. Knowledge acquired about sea animals usually follows their economic importance and exploitation, and this was also true with sharks. The first to learn about sharks in North America were the native fishermen who learned how, when, and where to catch them for food or for their oils. The early naturalists in America studied the land animals and plants; they had little interest in sharks. When faunistic works on fishes started to appear, naturalists just enumerated the species of sharks that they could discern. Throughout the U.S. colonial period, sharks were seldom utilized for food, although their liver oil or skins were often utilized. Throughout the nineteenth century, the Spiny Dogfish, Squalus acanthias, was the only shark species utilized in a large scale on both coasts. It was fished for its liver oil, which was used as a lubricant, and for lighting and tanning, and for its skin which was used as an abrasive. During the early part of the twentieth century, the Ocean Leather Company was started to process sea animals (primarily sharks) into leather, oil, fertilizer, fins, etc. The Ocean Leather Company enjoyed a monopoly on the shark leather industry for several decades. In 1937, the liver of the Soupfin Shark, Galeorhinus galeus, was found to be a rich source of vitamin A, and because the outbreak of World War II in 1938 interrupted the shipping of vitamin A from European sources, an intensive shark fishery soon developed along the U.S. West Coast. By 1939 the American shark leather fishery had transformed into the shark liver oil fishery of the early 1940’s, encompassing both coasts. By the late 1940’s, these fisheries were depleted because of overfishing and fishing in the nursery areas. Synthetic vitamin A appeared on the market in 1950, causing the fishery to be discontinued. During World War II, shark attacks on the survivors of sunken ships and downed aviators engendered the search for a shark repellent. This led to research aimed at understanding shark behavior and the sensory biology of sharks. From the late 1950’s to the 1980’s, funding from the Office of Naval Research was responsible for most of what was learned about the sensory biology of sharks.