| NEWS AND UPDATES |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| ANGLERS REJECT LICENSE SCHEME
A carrot and stick government promise of improved services and benefits but with a license scheme to fund them has been rejected by sea anglers' representatives. It is the core of proposals by the environment department (Defra) to develop recreational sea angling (RSA) in England and Wales by recognising both its economic importance and reliance on effective management of fishstocks. The National Federation of Sea Anglers (NFSA) strongly opposes it unless Defra first delivers tangible improvements for sea angling. It has kept Defra informed of anglers' views on its emerging proposals for over two years. In a White Paper* Defra says it will "help support" actions to improve sea angling but only after making anglers buy licenses to fish. "That means sea anglers would be paying to put right the damage caused by years of over exploitation by commercial fishing allowed through the neglect of successive governments," said Richard Ferr?chairman of the NFSA "That is Defra's responsibility. "Commercial overfishing must be stopped to allow fish to grow larger and anglers have better access for fishing before they will countenance licensing," he said. "Until that happens there are few fish in the sea worth buying a license to catch. Defra should first provide the scientific data to manage fishstocks, protect and improve access for anglers to beaches, shore structures and car parking and create both artificial reefs to attract fish and more facilities to launch small boats. He said anglers feared any licence money would go largely to pay for a new organisation to issue and enforce licenses and none would be used to improve sea angling. Defra also wants license money to pay to display rules, codes of conduct and other data on the shore, at boat launching sites and aboard angling charter vessels. Mr. Ferr?elieves the Marine Bill foreshadowed by the White Paper is unlikely to come into force until 2009. "That is plenty of time for Defra to show commitment to helping sea angling to continue to thrive and increase its already substantial contribution to the coastal economies of England and Wales." The White Paper says controls will only be imposed on recreational sea angling on a case-by-case basis, for particular species "where justified on conservation or enforcement grounds." and they would be subject to consultation. It admits there had been mixed reactions to licensing and bag limits from anglers and other interested parties as a means of controlling their activities but asserted there was some support provided there were clear benefits to anglers from the revenue generated. Defra says it wants sea fisheries committees (SFCs) to be effective and to focus firmly on fishing activity and its impact on the marine ecosystem. Membership of each committee should be limited to 15 including seven representing commercial fishing and recreational angling. It wants SFCs to introduce interim measures at short notice to prevent, stop or introduce restrictions on damaging activities such as new types of destructive fishing gear or to regulate long-standing practices in the light of new information. The White Paper highlights the impact on the marine environment of many activities, including bait digging and bait collection, and the need for sea fisheries committees to manage these through by-laws. On marine protected areas (MPAs) the white paper says that the government has an obligation to establish an ecologically coherent network of them and that responses to the marine bill consultation document last year "indicated overwhelming support" for such areas focussed on the conservation of biodiversity. Sea anglers and everyone else interested have until June 15 to tell Defra how and why they believe the proposals in the White Paper should be changed. |
| Sea anglers may be forced to buy a licence
By Philip Johnston, Home Affairs Editor More than one million sea anglers will be forced for the first time to pay to fish under Government plans for a licensing system. Ministers are proposing charges to cover beach anglers, boat fishing and charter trips, overturning a British tradition enshrined in common law nearly 800 years ago. David Miliband, the Environment Secretary, wants to use the licence fee to help manage fish stocks. It would also be used to protect and improve shore access and car parks, provide launch sites for small boats and create artificial reefs. Part of the money would be used to administer the scheme itself. advertisement Countryside campaigners see it as a stealth tax and say commercial fishing is the biggest threat to marine conservation. They also argue that it would be prohibitively expensive to police 2,500 miles of coastline. The proposal would require everyone over the age of 12 who fishes in the sea with rod and line to have a licence. There would be exemptions for elderly people, group licences for charter vessels and daily and weekly charges. Freshwater fishermen currently pay £24.50 a year for a rod licence. A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance said: "Sea anglers know full well that it is commercial rather than recreational angling that is the biggest threat to marine conservation." The spokesman added that the angling industry is worth £538 million a year to the economy and the Government should be trying to attract people to the sport rather than scaring them off with "a layer of bureaucracy that simply cannot deliver benefits". The National Federation of Sea Anglers (NFSA) said it opposed licences without tangible improvements for sea angling. Richard Ferré, the chairman of the NFSA, said: "Sea anglers would be paying to put right the damage caused by years of over-exploitation by commercial fishing allowed through the neglect of successive governments." The Government has invited comments on its proposals and a new Bill is not expected until 2009. A public right to fish dates to the Digest of Justinian, a Byzantine legal codification, in the sixth century AD. |
|
| The government today abandoned its current plans to impose fishing licences on a million sea anglers in Britain. The move follows several years of campaigning by the National Federation of Sea Anglers (NFSA) to convince successive fisheries ministers that because fishstocks were so seriously depleted by commercial overfishing, the few fish left for anglers were not worth buying licence to catch. A provision enabling licences to be imposed has been withdrawn from the government’s big new Marine Bill due to be published shortly. The news came in a written parliamentary answer to Martin Salter (Labour, Reading West) from the fisheries minister, Jonathan Shaw. A survey of NFSA members showed that only eight per cent supported the idea. The case was argued by the NFSA in its responses to government consultations, face-to-face with civil servants and last month directly with the minister at a "meet the anglers" session in Penzance, and at a meeting in Westminster. Richard Ferré, chairman of the NFSA, said today: “The NFSA and anglers throughout the country have worked hard to honestly represent to the Minister their view that a licence would have been unfair, financially unviable and detrimental to the sport. “The minister and his civil servants are to be congratulated for listening to and analysing our arguments and now for taking this decision.” Mr. Salter who is the Labour spokesman for angling, said that he remained committed to the principle of a rod licence for all forms of recreational fishing but added: “Let’s first get in place the conservation measures necessary to stop the over exploitation by the commercial sector and give Britain’s sea anglers a chance of a decent days sport before we ask them to pay to catch fish that might not be there.” Mr. Ferré said he believed it would herald much needed improved relations between the government and the million-strong recreational sea angling industry which was worth nearly £600 million a year in England and Wales alone and supported 19,000 jobs. “Our aim is to expand the sport and sustain the thousands of businesses dependant on it. “Many of those businesses would have been badly hurt by an unpopular licence scheme deterring thousands of families who go sea angling on holiday every year often introducing their children to a fascinating, close to nature, outdoor activity.” Anglers were particularly pleased that the minister has clearly indicated his intention to continue with the action programme they have been lobbying for to improve sea angling which has been seriously affected by declining fishstocks. “High on our priority list is the need for new minimum landing sizes to stop commercial fishermen and anglers alike taking fish before they have even spawned once and much improved netting restrictions around our shores. |
| Good news for Sea fishermen |
| Goverment take U-turn on sea angling licences |