If you're an angler, you will need little help to find the right locations – you can hardly miss them. At any time around the high tide, you'll find fishermen tending their lines at countless points along the waterfront promenades that make the Mersey so accessible. Offshore fishing is equally popular, with New Brighton and Liverpool Sailing Club as handy bases. Today, enthusiasts are being attracted from as far afield as North East England, South Wales, Southern and Eastern England and Ireland by the sea angling prospects, particularly the organised competitions.

In recent years there has been a striking increase in numbers of larger and healthier cod and whiting caught in the Mersey. Flat fish such as plaice, dab, thornback rays and flounder were once rare but these days are commonly found, while bass are now returning to the river.

Such predators as dogfish, mackerel and even tope are also found in the Mersey, feeding on the shrimp and whitebait that are now increasingly thriving in these waters. As experts predicted, we have seen a return of salmon to the Mersey and they have now been spotted spawning in the head waters near Derbyshire.

Meanwhile, following restocking by the Environment Agency, in the 1990s, freshwater fish such as roach, dace and chub are now able to survive in sections of the Mersey and its tributaries.

A big attraction of the area is the variety of locations available to the keen angler. Popular sites for shore-based sea anglers include Harrison Drive at New Brighton and Otterspool on the Liverpool side. A number of clubs also organise sea angling in Liverpool Bay while the Warrington and Sankey Canals are popular with freshwater anglers. Fishermen should always ensure they have a permit where required.

Cormorants, kingfishers and great-crested grebes have also been attracted to the Mersey in growing numbers, feeding on the improved fish populations. One irony of the improving water conditions is that the anglers are increasingly having to compete with the cormorants for their catch.

Other marine life being recorded includes octopus, squid and cuttlefish - not to mention crabs, jellyfish and shrimps. In addition, minky whales, harbour porpoise and dolphins have been spotted near the mouth of the Mersey and seals as far upstream as Warrington as they follow the fish into the rejuvenated river.

Also thriving are many other small creatures, including invertebrates, that need cleaner water to survive. It is anticipated that fishing prospects will continue to improve across the Mersey Basin's watercourses.