For while in Scotland there are rights that allow canoers and kayakers to use rivers as long as they are navigatable, in England the vast majority of rivers are privately owned and hence out of bounds.
Indeed the statistic he quotes is that 97% of rivers over 3m wide are closed off so that navigation is not permitted, and that does seem pretty outrageous.
The argument that land owners apparently give is that canoeists and kayakers disturb the fish - and given that a short stretch of river bank can earn a million pounds from eager salmon fishermen that can result in quite a loss.
However the one part of Britain that is famous for its salmon is Scotland, where of course paddling is not restricted.
sailor canoeist (below, with his faithful dog Cadbury) at this point started a bit of a rumpus by calling on canoeists to "disturb as many fishermen as possible".
That does seem a bit undiplomatic to say the least, but his heart is in the right place.
There are wide ranging rights for walkers (hikers) to roam across the countryside and those rights should be extended to paddlers.