Filmed Tyne Tees Television Northern Life news report on a dispute between the Esk River Authority and anglers over fishing rights. Peter Holland reports. This item was originally broadcast on 25 April 1977. The report opens with shots of the River Esk near Whitby, from the Ruswarp Road Bridge to Eskside Wharf, Whitby. Two men are fishing for salmon and sea trout on a stretch of the river. Holland piece to camera about the long, arduous journey of a salmon returning to spawn. The Salmon and...

Filmed Tyne Tees Television Northern Life news report on a dispute between the Esk River Authority and anglers over fishing rights. Peter Holland reports. This item was originally broadcast on 25 April 1977. The report opens with shots of the River Esk near Whitby, from the Ruswarp Road Bridge to Eskside Wharf, Whitby. Two men are fishing for salmon and sea trout on a stretch of the river. Holland piece to camera about the long, arduous journey of a salmon returning to spawn. The Salmon and Fresh Water Fisheries Act of 1975 was designed to protect the fish as they ascend weirs where they are most vulnerable. Anglers are complaining that the ruling was not meant to cover this two and a half mile stretch of the Esk, on which the local water authority want to impose a ban on fishing to conserve the fish. Holland interviews John Allen, Secretary of the Lower Esk Freemen’s Tidal Association. Allen thinks the new byelaw is absolute stupidity. He refers to the legal challenges to the Act. Holland asks him if he thinks of himself as a poacher. Various shots follow of anglers on the Esk. Another angler complains to camera.