New Angling Trust report reveals pollution threatening UK rivers and wild salmon
A major new report analysing thousands of water samples from English & Welsh rivers has highlighted the scale of pollution threatening freshwater ecosystems and species such as wild Atlantic salmon.
The findings come from the Angling Trust’s Water Quality Monitoring Network (WQMN), one of the largest citizen science water monitoring programmes.
The latest analysis of the data shows widespread nutrient pollution in rivers across the country:
49.93% of monitored sites recorded environmentally harmful nitrate levels
More than 40% failed phosphate standards
Ammonia toxicity risk is rising
Excess nutrients fuel algal blooms and reduce oxygen levels in rivers, damaging habitats that fish and aquatic insects depend on.
For species such as Atlantic salmon, which require clean, well-oxygenated rivers to spawn and for juveniles to survive, declining water quality adds to the growing pressures they face from climate change, habitat loss and barriers to migration.
“Our rivers are suffocating”
Actor, Angling Trust Ambassador and Missing Salmon Alliance supporter Jim Murray said the findings reflect the reality being witnessed across many UK rivers:
“Our rivers are suffocating. When pollution overwhelms these ecosystems the first thing to disappear is oxygen, and when oxygen disappears the life that rivers depend on begins to collapse. Salmon cannot survive in suffocating rivers.”
Chalk streams under pressure
The report also includes analysis from England’s internationally important chalk streams, including the Test, Itchen, Hampshire Avon and Meon.
These rivers are globally rare ecosystems that support iconic species such as wild brown trout, grayling and Atlantic salmon. Monitoring data from these catchments shows that nutrient pollution remains a persistent problem, highlighting the ongoing pressures facing these fragile rivers from sewage discharges, agricultural runoff and water abstraction. Protecting chalk streams is vital not only for biodiversity but also for the long-term recovery of migratory fish populations.
Citizen science exposing river pollution
Since launching in 2022, the WQMN has grown rapidly. It has mobilised over 800 volunteers, who have dedicated more than 4,000 hours to collect over 12,000 samples. across 80 river catchments. Their findings reveal a broken system that has allowed nutrient enrichment to reach ecologically devastating levels.
By repeatedly monitoring the same locations over time, volunteers are building one of the most detailed independent datasets on river pollution in the UK.
For further information and to review the report, please see here: New report highlights how UK rivers are suffocating - Angling Trust