AN EXPERT Newport woodcarver has delivered again with a fantastic tribute to the Black Rock lave net fishermen.

Chris Wood, who has spent months carving the monument for the fishery, arrived this week to gift it to Martin Morgan and his team of fishermen at Black Rock picnic site, on the banks of the Severn between the two river bridges.

The group practice a traditional method of catching fish, which dates back from the 1700s - but have been forced to close in their centenary year due Natural Resource’s Wales’s concerns over salmon stocks.

The fishermen have always denied overfishing allegations, and say they catch on average six salmon a season to keep the heritage of lave net fishing alive.

Reacting to the monument, Mr Morgan said: “It’s a magnificent tribute and we are deeply grateful to Chris for what he’s done for us. I look at it with great pride but also with sadness, because it could genuinely become a memorial to this fishery.

South Wales Argus:

“We are fortunate this is on a popular walking trail for tourists, which will help raise our profile more, and people might question what happened to us in years to come when they see this.

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“The world is changing and local tourism will be booming. This fishery has such potential to be a place to be for visitors to Gwent, and we don’t cost anything. I think it will be a grave mistake to let this slip away.”

Last week Senedd members from Labour, the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru teamed up to table a statement of support before the Senedd next month.

Creator of the monument Chris Wood said: “I was delighted and humbled to be invited to do this by the Gwent Living Levels sculpture project. This is a tradition the people of Gwent should be proud of and I hope it brings Martin and the team some publicity.”

More than 4,500 people have now signed a petition backing the fishermen in their fight to continue lave net fishing on the estuary.

Jon Goldsworthy, south east operations manager from Natural Resources Wales said: “We do not want to stop the fishermen from using lave nets, but we do need them to change their practice.

“We have offered licences for the fishery this season as long as they return any salmon they catch, but they have chosen not to take this up.

“We have also tried to meet with netsmen many times, and are still keen to do this to better understand why they feel they are unable to release any salmon they catch. We would welcome the support of any interested politicians to help facilitate this.

“We recognise the small number of salmon caught, but also the evidence that any salmon killed is likely to have a negative impact.”