There are moments in conservation when the pieces fall into place – when the patience, the persistence, and the quiet faith of those who love a river are rewarded not merely with goodwill, but with real, tangible progress. This is one of those moments, and it deserves to be celebrated without reservation.
The Ribble Rivers Trust has recently been honoured with a prestigious wild salmon conservation award – recognition that speaks not only to the quality of their science and their fieldwork, but to the culture of dedication that Jack Spees and his team have built at the RRT. From the wider angling community of the Ribble Catchment, and from the Ribble Fisheries Consultative Association in particular – which has long enjoyed a close and productive relationship with the Trust – congratulations are very warmly extended. This is thoroughly deserved.
Yet barely has the ink dried on that accolade before another cause for celebration presents itself. The Hodder Together for Salmon campaign has now reached its fundraising target – a community crowdfunder, match funded through the North Atlantic Salmon Fund’s Orri Award, which has raised over £21,500 to begin the serious work of restoring the River Hodder for Atlantic salmon. Individuals, angling clubs, local businesses and community groups all played their part, and the result is a project that moves now from aspiration into delivery: spawning gravel restoration, citizen science, school engagement, and the building of those all-important relationships with landowners and partners along the river corridor.
The Hodder Consultative has been working closely alongside Jack Spees and the RRT team throughout this process, and their involvement is a fine example of what can be achieved when angling organisations engage constructively and collegially with the conservation bodies who share their passion for healthy rivers. It is precisely this kind of collegiate partnership – where clubs, trusts, consultatives and communities pull in the same direction that gives projects like this their strength and their longevity. None of it happens by accident. It happens because people who care deeply about a river are willing to sit around the same table, to share knowledge, to fundraise together, and to commit to outcomes that outlast any single season.
There is a phrase I have heard more than once from those who know this catchment well, and it carries a truth that every angler on the Ribble ought to carry with them: as a tributary of the Ribble, what happens on the Hodder impacts the Ribble. The Hodder drains the southern flanks of the Forest of Bowland – some of the finest upland country in Lancashire and has historically been one of the most important salmon rivers in the entire Ribble system. Its restoration is not a peripheral concern. It is central to the future of salmon across the whole catchment. A fish that spawns successfully on the Hodder is a fish that enriches the Ribble, and the Ribble Catchment as a whole.
That is why this moment matters. The the coming together of the RRT, along with the local angling community and the wider community is something we should mark. In a landscape where the news about Atlantic salmon is too often grim with falling runs, degraded habitats, political indifference here is evidence that determined, collaborative action at a catchment scale can still make a difference.
We should all wish Jack and the team well as this project moves into delivery. And we should all, in whatever way we can, be part of ensuring it succeeds.
The river is watching. The salmon, if fortune holds, will return to judge us.