IFM Response to the governments Water White Paper – a new vision for water.

The Institute of Fisheries Management welcomes the Government’s Water White Paper as a timely opportunity to set a renewed national direction for water policy. However, ambition must now be matched by delivery. Clear action for clean water is urgently needed.

The risk of extinction facing iconic species such as Atlantic salmon and European eel underlines the seriousness of the current situation. Inland and inshore fisheries are in decline largely because fish have less and less clean water in which to live. The economic, social, health and wellbeing benefits of fishing are well established. In several of our most famous rivers, meaningful fisheries have already been lost. This trajectory must be reversed.

The IFM does not agree that the Water Framework Directive (WFD) is fundamentally flawed because it is 25 years old or because its targets have not been met. River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) already provide a coherent, cross-sector Programme of Measures. The principal failure has been the lack of implementation at water body level, not the design of the framework itself. In this regard, we share the analysis of the Office for Environmental Protection.

We support proposals to update water policy and the underpinning legislative framework where this strengthens delivery. However, we urge caution against dismantling the core structure of the WFD without a clear and demonstrably stronger alternative. What is required is a policy and strategic framework that mandates and enables the full implementation of RBMPs as a national priority.

The White Paper’s recognition of agricultural pollution is welcome, but stronger and more sustained action is essential. Addressing diffuse pollution will require more than additional enforcement or financial incentives. Public discourse must move beyond framing farmers as scapegoats or water companies as the sole cause of pollution. Strategic policy must be clear that our food production systems must evolve to protect and conserve the water resources on which they depend. Without a shift towards less intensive systems that soils can support without harmful inputs, investment in water supply and treatment infrastructure will be undermined. Integration with a comprehensive land use framework is therefore critical.

The IFM believes that pollution is unacceptable and must be treated as such within national policy. We must make better use of the tools currently available while transitioning to improved approaches where necessary.

Clean water is fundamental to healthy ecosystems, sustainable fisheries and resilient communities. The IFM calls on Government and all sectors to commit to clear, coordinated and immediate action to restore and protect the nation’s waters.