River Eea Project

The river Eea is a relatively short system that arises from numerous small becks and streams throughout the Cartmel Valley and discharges into Morecambe bay at Flookburgh. The main tributaries are Muddypool and Ayside Beck, and as these two converge above Cartmel, they become the Eea. The origins of its name are not known, although some speculation has been aimed at the possibility that its roots are Celtic.

The Eea was once noted for its excellent run of sea trout. However, reported catches of these, as well as salmon and brown trout have fallen in recent years. The system was last surveyed by the NRA (now the EA) in 1994, at which time the results showed the salmonid population to be in good health. 

The first aim of this project is to ascertain the current health of the river system. This will be done by:

• conducting a walkover survey of the whole system;
•  invertebrate monitoring;
•  water quality sampling;
• juvenile fry surveys using electro-fishing techniques.

The data generated by these surveys, combined with observations made during the walkover 

The second phase of the project will involve carrying out mitigation works such as riparian fencing, bank re-profiling, introducing in-stream features and tree planting. The cost of these works can be high. For example, a metre of fencing costs £7.50. Therefore priority will be given to those areas that are deemed to offer the greatest benefits.  
The last phase of the project will be to re-survey the system in order to see if the work that has been carried out has been successful.

The Eea project has been welcomed by Cark and District Anglers Association. Their support has been shown by an overwhelming agreement at their last AGM to stop stocking the river for 5 years in order to give the project a chance. They have also generously donated £500 to SCRT towards the purchase of some electrofishing equipment. A number of the anglers have also volunteered some of their time to help with the surveys.

Geology.

To the west of the catchment the geology is mainly slate, but to the east there are deposits of limestone, which make the river very productive. Strangely for a limestone river, there are no reported sightings of native white-clawed crayfish. This species needs the calcium from the limestone to harden its shell. They are extremely rare, but they have a strong population in Cumbria. Their main threat is the American signal crayfish, which is about 3 times its size and carries a deadly fungal virus that wipes out the native species.

Holes in the limestone riverbed can cause the river to disappear for some considerable length at times of low flow in the summer. This is typical of a limestone river.

History.

Like most rivers, the Eea has played an important part in the development of the surrounding villages and towns. There are a number of now redundant small corn mills along its route, and there is some evidence of old piers at some points near Holker, which could suggest that the river was once used to transport stone downstream to the now silted up harbour at Flookburgh.

The influence of man on the river has had a fairly big impact on a number of important aspects. Between the 19th and mid 20th centuries the river channel was straightened and dredged. This helped drain surrounding agricultural land and helped to reduce the risk of flooding. It is now known that channel straightening has the reverse effect and that flooding can become more of a reality if the waters in the headwaters are penned in and their force concentrated into a channel. One solution is to encourage the ‘re-wetting’ of surrounding farmland in specific places to act as a sponge and take the force from the water. This also helps to increase the bio-diversity of both the river and the surrounding land, and encourages species such as Bittern, Kingfishers and Otters. All of these species are increasingly rare. Dredging also removes instream boulders which act as good refuges for fish and their prey.

Agriculture.

The biggest impact to the river system is diffuse pollution from agriculture. This can be in the form of run-off from slurry tanks and farmyards, field run-off rich in nutrients, sheep-dip and cattle entering the water and letting loose with massive pats and trampling down banks. The main problem with the run-off and nutrients entering the water is that it increases the biological oxygen demand and makes the water less desirable for fish to breed in and inhabit. Sheep dip can kill off the invertebrate life which is at the bottom of the food chain and silt can clog up the gravels which fish such as trout and salmon need to deposit eggs in. These nests are known as ‘redds’.
Cattle grazing up to the river edge reduce the diversity of the habitat.

Up until quite recently a sewage works at Cartmel discharged into the river and was the cause of a lot of pollution. This has now been relocated to Grange over Sands, which should have a good effect on the water quality. Human effluent is not good for the water because it contains high levels of phosphorous. This can come from washing powders and soaps. The main impact of phosphorous is to encourage eutrophication, or the over-enrichment of the water. This in turn can cause fine algae to smother the riverbed and choke fly-life.

Fishing.

The Eea was once famous as a sea trout fishery. This is no longer the case and nobody really knows why. Some answers are probably out at sea where they are caught in large numbers. A lot of the answers probably lie in the river itself, and the reason for their decline could be that there is not enough spawning ground, the water quality is too poor, or that there is no pressure for the sea trout to exist. The reason for this is that a sea trout starts life as a normal brown trout, but if there are too many brown trout in a system, some fish may change their body structure and develop the ability to live in seawater. This is known as anadromy. They return to the fresh water to spawn. So, if there are not enough brown trout in a river, there may not be any reason for sea trout to develop.

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Article from the Westmorland Gazette Friday 21st March 2008

BEN LAMB of South Cumbria Rivers Trust and members of Cark and District Angling Association - (back left) Chairman Raymond Hadwin with Secretary Roy Bland, who are working together to revitalise the River Eea at Cark.

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ANGLERS and ecological experts are joining forces to help carry out a vital health check on the condition of a South Lakeland river, reports Paul Duncan.
Stocks of fish in the River Eea have been declining in recent years so the South Cumbria Rivers Trust is about to embark on an ambitious project to assess the river which runs the length of the Cartmel Peninsula - and its associated tributaries.
To enable it to carry out the survey, the trust has enlisted the help of Cark and District Anglers Association (CDAA) which has, in turn, donated £500 to the project and agreed not to carry out its annual restock of the river, which involves releasing more than 100 brown trout into its waters.
Trust manager Ben Lamb said the ultimate aim of the project would be to 'revitalise the river'.
“The Eea was once noted for its excellent run of sea trout, catches of which, along with salmon and brown trout, have fallen in recent years” said Mr Lamb.
The first aim of the project is to ascertain the causes of the drop off. This will be done by conducting a walkover survey of the whole system, invertebrate monitoring, water quality sampling and ,juvenile fry surveys using electro fishing techniques
The second phase of the project will involve replacing fencing and reintroducing stream features, such as boulders, which provide hiding places for young fish, these were removed from the river when it was dredged in the 1960s.
According to Mr Lamb the issues facing the river include pressure from agriculture, tourism and pollution seeping into the watercourse from roads.
However, Secretary of the CDAA Roy Bland said an increase in the numbers of fish-eating birds was also causing problems.
“Over the last four to five years the numbers of brown trout have plummeted. Over this time we have seen a big increase in the numbers of birds such as herons, mergansers and cormorants and as they are protected species there is nothing we can do to control them,” said Mr Bland.
Members of the CDAA will also help carry out the survey and will be attending special fly-recognition courses to enable them to assess the number of invertebrates in the river.
The project is expected to take around three years and has the support of the Environment Agency.