The worsening state of rivers and waterways was high on the agenda of the UK's first River Summit, held on the picturesque banks of the River Test.
A panel of experts assembled near Kimbridge Barn on Tuesday June 13 for a day of discussions, workshops and food.
Concerns have been growing about damage to rivers, especially Hampshire chalk streams such as the Test and Itchen, from farming and discharges of sewage by Southern Water.
Event founder Claire Zambuni brought together seven panellists to speak to an audience of around 40 people.
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They were: Jim Murray, actor and founder of Activist Anglers; Penny Gane, head of practice at Fish Legal; Dylan Roberts, head of fisheries at GWCT; Jamie Cook, CEO of Angling Trust; Nick Measham, CEO of WildFish; Mike Blackmore, director of operations at Wessex Rivers Trust; and Gail Davies-Walsh, CEO of Afonydd Cymru.
Opening the event, Ms Zambuni said: “We hear that our regulators are not responsible enough and need to be held to account. We hear about salmon tagging projects that give an insight into how human activity impacts fish migration.
“We wanted to put this event together to bring some of these issues to the public. My life journey has enabled us to put rivers at the heart of what we do.
“The threat of water scarcity and the decimation of biodiversity is a global issue. It is not around the corner, it is here.”
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Mr Murray, who lives near Alresford, said that his show Robson and Jim’s Icelandic Flyfishing Adventure, had been successful in showing the mental health benefits of fishing.
He said: “I wanted to share with as many people as possible the joys and wonders of flyfishing, which is quite niche.
“The real reason why I wanted to get it on the TV was as a Trojan Horse to create awareness for the state of our rivers.
“I'm lucky enough to have spent many years fishing in this country and the biggest question I get from anglers is about what we can do about the state of our rivers.
“We need to support each other and share information. Our activism and passion needs to be more focused and informed, otherwise we are just a bunch of angry fisherman yelling into the abyss.
“The next generation to pick up a rod and get to know rivers will lead to greater awareness of the state of our waterways.”
Winchester Lib Dem election candidate Danny Chambers was in attendance and said: "One key point from this River Summit is that MPs and water companies who have allowed sewage dumping for so many years clearly don't recognise how precious our chalk streams are as areas of special scientific interest.
"These precious ecosystems contain unusual biodiversity and are even home to a unique sub-species of salmon not found elsewhere. The polluting of these rivers is akin to polluting coral reefs.
"I totally support the call from the speakers that people should consider who they vote for at the next general election if they want to protect our rivers and wildlife from this environmental vandalism."
Guests were provided with a wild food riverside lunch by Nick Weston and his team at Hunter Gather Cook, with a bar by Lakedown Brewing Company, followed by an afternoon on the river Test with workshops from event partners; Hunter Gather Cook, Swarovski Optics, Wessex Rivers Trust and Orvis UK.
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