Introduction
This project was developed to implement the River Invertebrate Monitoring for Anglers initiative within the South Cumbria Rivers Trust (SCRT) area. The project included hosting two one-day training workshops in April this year and the purchase of monitoring equipment for groups of anglers to carry out ongoing monitoring at sites along the main rivers within South Cumbria. SCRT funded the workshops and a grant was received from the Cumbria Biodiversity Partnership for the equipment.

Background
River Invertebrate Monitoring for Anglers is a Riverfly Partnership initiative. The Partnership was formed following concerns regarding the apparent decline in abundance and occurrence of riverflies, in particular the Up-winged flies (Ephemeroptera), Caddisflies (Trichoptera) and Stoneflies (Plecoptera).The Partnership includes many organisations committed to furthering the understanding and conservation of riverfly populations. Further information on the Riverfly Partnership can be found at www.riverflies.org.

The monitoring initiative was launched nationally at the 2nd Riverfly Conference in March 2007 at the Natural History Museum, London. It is endorsed by the Environment Agency and the Salmon & Trout Association, and enables angling groups to monitor riverfly populations and highlight severe changes in the water quality of their rivers.

Angling organisations are encouraged to establish Monitoring Groups that share the responsibility of sampling their chosen river on a monthly basis. Using a simple, standardised methodology, material is collected from the river from which eight groups of invertebrate are identified and counted. The data is held by the angling organisation and shared with the Environment Agency (EA). The initiative provides a simple monitoring technique which anglers can use to detect any severe perturbations in river water quality and puts them in direct communication with the Area Ecological Appraisal Team of the EA. Used alongside routine monitoring by the EA, this scheme will ensure that water quality is checked more widely and action taken at the earliest opportunity should any severe perturbations be detected.

Workshops

The one-day monitoring workshops were hosted by South Cumbria Rivers Trust (SCRT) and delivered by an accredited tutor, together with the local EA Ecological Appraisal Officer, Brian Ingersent. Twenty four people attended the training sessions, twelve on each day. The workshops provided a comprehensive review of the monitoring technique and included short presentations, practical demonstrations and active involvement by participants at the riverside. Participants received a guide to the monitoring methodology and had a chance to try it out for themselves.

The venue for the workshops was the Heron Corn Mill at Beetham. The River Bela flows through Beetham and, within easy walking distance of the Mill, there is a very good area for field sampling.

Ongoing Monitoring
Following the workshops, and in discussion with the EA, sites have been identified for ongoing monitoring along the Bela, Duddon and Leven. Monitoring has now commenced on the Bela and will shortly begin on the Duddon and Leven.

Once monitoring sites have been agreed, the EA Ecological Appraisal Officer, in collaboration with the angling volunteers will determine a seasonal baseline for each site and ‘trigger levels’. These trigger levels will highlight data that indicates a severe perturbation in water quality.

During sampling, the category and abundance of each invertebrate group is to be recorded on a recording sheet. These records must then be transferred onto a database held by the monitoring organisation. The data collected by the volunteers will be shared with the Ecological Appraisal Officer.
Key Issues for Freshwater Invertebrate

Problems associated with the conservation of freshwater invertebrates:

   * Pollution poses a significant threat to biodiversity in both flowing and standing waters in the UK. In the lowlands, the most pervasive problem is over-enrichment with plant nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus (eutrophication), from both diffuse and point sources. In certain upland areas acidification is a threat.

      * Activities such as flood alleviation schemes, water storage and water abstraction have modified flow in some rivers, changed the periodicity of draw-down in numerous lakes, lowered water tables, and adversely affected wet habitats such as bogland and fens.