THE Environment Agency this week denied a disagreement between its own scientists and environmentalists at Kielder reservoir had led to the suspension of salmon re-stocking on the River Tees and Wear.

It said individual agency employees held their own views on the matter, but official policy meant no re-stocking of the Tees had taken place since 1996.

The agency's comments followed a sustained campaign of criticism from a small group of Tees anglers, who say the barrage at Stockton hinders salmon from reaching upstream spawning grounds.

Three campaigners from Darlington, Barnard Castle and Sedgefield have called for a public inquiry into the river's salmon and trout life. They claim the Tees Barrage fish pass is too narrow, and that massing salmon are eaten by a growing number of seals, which have moved upstream from traditional estuary habitats.

Hurworth angler Don Taylor was the first critic to publicly voice his worries and he was then joined by John Iceton, of Sedgefield. Christopher Henshaw, secretary of Barnard Castle Angling and Flyfishing Club for 12 years and formerly a member of the Tees Action Committee for Pollution, agreed but also raised the matter of re-stocking.

He told the D&S Times the suspension of re-stocking was wrong and doubted the agency's official reason, which it gave this week.

An agency press spokesman said Kielder hatchery in Northumberland was created when the reservoir was built, to compensate for loss of River Tyne spawning grounds.

The agency was required to stock the Tyne, but the hatchery had successfully reared fish for other rivers. A disagreement would have no bearing on re-stocking practice, he said.

"Individuals may have their own views, but the agency has a clear policy. "Different rivers have differing genetic strains of fish, which have adapted to each river's environment. Where possible, we use brood-stock from that river to restock. If this is impossible, we take fish from the nearest suitable source and then allow natural selection to act upon them, which eventually produces fish more suited to each environment.

"The Tees was re-stocked with Tyne strain salmon from Kielder. Between 1991 and 1996, over one million juvenile salmon were put into the Tees. However, the agency now allows nature to take its course in determining which fish survive to spawn, thereby naturally increasing stocks.

"All the evidence indicates the Tees salmon population is now quite significant and continuing to improve. We have no plans to restock in the near future."

The agency's announcement coincided this week with news of the Water Industry Coarse Angling Championships angling competition on the Tees next month. Twenty-five teams of anglers employed by various sectors of the nation's water industry will compete in the event, including staff from the Environment Agency and British Waterways, which runs the Tees Barrage.

The contest is on Saturday, September 7, between the A66 Tees Bridge at Thornaby and Preston Park.

Each competitor's match fee will be donated to local junior angling clubs.

The Environment Agency's John Shannon said the event would celebrate the vast improvement of the Tees over the last decade.

He said: "Ten years ago, this stretch was virtually dead. Now, after hard work by the agency, Northumbria Water and the water industry to improve discharge into the river, it has come back to life with a thriving fish population.

"The completion of the Tees Barrage in 1995 created a 22km stretch of deep river, which was previously tidal and polluted. There has been a dramatic rise in the fish population. The Tees is now regarded as one of the north's premier fishing venues.