Office for Environmental Protection’s report on progress towards environmental goals

The IFM welcomes the Office for Environmental Protection’s report on progress towards environmental goals from April 2023 to March 2024. 

It is disappointing that progress to ensure clean and plentiful water is mixed at best. Without progress iconic native fishes such as Atlantic salmon and European eel shall struggle to recover from their current low levels. Likewise catches from once highly productive river systems across England will reflect that they are and will remain polluted.

Of note is that the OEP has been able to identify only limited capacity for reducing water pollution to support the government’s environmental priority of cleaning up rivers and lakes, without changes to how land is used. The IFM welcomes moves to produce a Land Use Framework and hopes the OEP report will accelerate the slow progress to date.

The IFM fully endorses the recommendation for more effective regulation of pollution and river modification. We welcome DEFRA’s review of its current regulation and regulators.

We note the considered analysis of fishing pressures in the context of marine nature recovery. The IFM shall wish to see a balanced response to better implementation of the Marine Strategy that recognises best practice management of fish populations in concert with other marine wildlife within functioning marine ecosystems.