FORMER MOST PAGES ARE NOW RUNNING UP TO DATE 6-1-09

Eu SHOCK FOR SEA ANGLERS EU officials believe sea angling is now so popular that anglers could have an impact on species like cod and ling. Defra has even confirmed it plans to hold talks with angling organisations next month, which I am sure will be a complete waste of time. Some pike anglers buy their sea dead baits at their local tackle shops, others catch their own, while many more enjoy the odd sea fishing trip, often bringing home one or two for the pot. Recently it has emerged that the European Union wants to impose catch quotas which is fine but they also want to ban anglers from selling their catches. Do anglers catch that many that its worth selling fish? I have my doubts on that one, I often wonder if they have anything better to do than target pleasure anglers sea fishing around our coast. For good measure here is yet another piece of nonsense. While plans to outlaw the killing of coarse fish for food were included in the Marine Bill set to become law next year, the use of fish as bait by anglers seeking predatory species was excluded. Unfortunately an un-named group of anti anglers are set to lobby MPs in the new year, presumably to prohibit the use of fish for bait. EA by-laws currently allow anglers to use fish up to 10cm long in most regions provided they are caught from the venue on the day. These people obviously know little or nothing about our sport or the history of fishing around the world, the whole debate is a complete non starter. Why are some so intent of brushing aside something that has been going on for decades?

EAST MIDS TEAM CHAMS Despite the rumours going around that there were to be big changes to the rules and regulations to the East Midlands Angling Times Team Championship very little has changed at all. The six venues are much as they were last season, the first three are on rivers the following three on fenland drains. Only the match on the River Glen/Welland has been moved. Pools money has been spread more evenly with the emphasis on sections. The down side of that is that the overall pools on the day has gone up. So that is hardly going to encourage any youngsters to have a go at team fishing in the winter. Pools have always been contentious, I have a feeling over the next couple of years club matches and lower pools will be the way forward, we can then still enjoy the competitive side to our sport without breaking the bank every time we fish a match.

SPORT ENGLAND Angling has received a £1.56 million boost recently as Sport England announced its plans to support the new Governing Body to deliver angling opportunities for all over the next four years. Last summer the Angling Development Board (ADB) was invited by Sport England to demonstrate how angling could contribute to government targets of increasing participation in active sport, especially through encouraging young people and retaining them as active participants as they grow older. Sport England also wanted to develop the talent pool of anglers trying to compete at international level and proposals to improve anglers’ satisfaction with the management of their sport: a process already underway with the formation of the Angling Trust. David Moore, Chairman of the ADB explained. ‘The ADB responded to Sport England’s challenge with a package of proposals to grow and sustain the sport of angling. Our Plan is based on a vast amount of market research, much of it from the Environment Agency’s data from millions of rod licences and information held by Sport England right back to an NOP survey 40 years ago. ‘The first area identified was the problem of young people who are introduced to the sport but are not converted into long-term anglers. Other sports have much better links between schools, coaches, clubs and facilities whereas these are widely fragmented in angling. The funding package from Sport England will help start a regional development network which can access local and regional funding and bring schools, clubs, coaches and facilities together. “After six months’ hard work by the ADB team, the timing of this announcement coincides perfectly with the transition of the ADB into the newly constituted Angling Trust during 2009. We are already making good progress in achieving Sport England’s recognition of The Angling Trust as the Governing Body for angling in England.’ The ADB plans to start recruiting Regional Development Officers and details will be available on our website www.anglingdevelopmentboard.org.uk during February. Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of Angling Trust said: “I am delighted that Sport England has recognised angling’s important role as a healthy activity for people of all backgrounds, ages and abilities with this increased funding award, which is a vote of confidence in the new unified structure for the way angling is managed at a national level. The new Angling Trust will work hard to make this grant go much further by seeking matching funds at local, regional and national levels. This funding will help our member clubs recruit and retain members and it will secure a positive future for angling and the millions of people who go fishing each year.”

KEN BURT IT is that time of year again when the Evening Telegraph Sports Award 2008 nominees are announced. I will lay my cards on the table right now and say that I am completely biased and would like to ask all anglers to vote for Ken Burt in the Unsung Hero category. I have known Ken for 35 years plus and in that time he has been the backbone of angling in this area, I could not think of a more deserving case in our sport to receive this award. Look out for the voting forms in the Evening Telegraph.

THE MARINE BILL2008 The Labour government this week made good its promise to Britain’s three million anglers to update and overhaul our fishing legislation when it announced in Wednesday’s Queen’s Speech that the long awaited Marine Bill was to be included in this year’s legislative programme. The Marine Bill will establish Marine Conservation zones to protect species and habitats from exploitation and to allow for better recruitment of many fish species. It will set up a Marine Management Organisation to regulate marine activities and help enforce laws to protect the marine environment. The Marine Bill is also the vehicle by which much of the 2001 Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Review will be implemented. This will include new by-laws creating powers to tackle fish removals and thefts. Labour’s angling spokesman Martin Salter said: “It has been a long campaign but we have finally got the chance to do something to protect our fisheries, to give the police and the Environment Agency real powers to clamp down on those who remove fish for either the pot or for private gain. The current hotch potch of fishery by-laws are unintelligible and unenforceable and I know for a fact that the EA are starting work on a national catch and release by-law which I want to see implemented as soon as possible. Catch and release must become the norm in freshwater with exceptions available in clearly defined circumstances such as put and take trout fisheries. I also welcome the measures to control the spread of non–natural fish species and to achieve better representation for anglers on fishery committees. It is hoped that the Marine Bill will start its passage through Parliament later this month and become law by the summer.”