Licenses

[border reiver]

Just read an article in Tackle Trade World about the adoption of sea angling licenses. Apparently the Goverment of Portugal has already imposed one, bag limits, no go area's for sea anglers. It sound like a mirror image of our proposal's doesn't it and just to rub a bit more salty water in the wound, the license money goes to the commercials by way of compensation for the fish the anglers catch.As a direct result of this, a massive drop in tackle sales estimated now at 70%. The European Fishing Tackle Trade is up in arms and lobbying the EU, It is warning against the widespread adoption of sea licenses and catastrophic effects it could have on the $25 billion generated by recreational anglers. Are we finally on the march or has the horse already bolted. A PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS.

[sless]

pay your money and take ya chances

its coming in and its simple as that

ive done my bit tho

[daren]

i dont want to even get into this again
i hope it doesnt come in but i think it will and we will have no choice in the matter
not havin a dig at anyone here just sick of all the when if`s and but`s about it all

[micky]

hi lads wat is this rod lience about like?wat will we have 2 pay and wat benifits 2 we get out of it?i have herd about but dont realy no much about it so if any one could tell me about it it would be gr8
cheers lads

[ryanlee]

licence

how why when???.
firstly why should we as anglers put something right that aint our fault.
secondly why does the government think that introducing a licence will help fish stocks.we only catch the fish that havent been caught by the commercial trade.
the only reason i may consider paying/agreeing to a licence is and this is my opinion;
adopt the 3mile rule,no nets or trawlers.potting boats to be limited to 2 mile.
a closed season say from april till august.and that is for all that fish within the golden two mile no exeptions.
have a few more thoughts but think thats a good start for now.
ps have signed the petition for the licence.

[northeast1]

Like Sless says...pay it move on or dont fish again...simple

I will pay it like all the other taxes.

[marksworld]

dont know, might pay, might not if i get caught........................well i get caught.

but as iv'e said before it cant be policed properly you cant even get a copper out to a break in for nearly a day, so like many other white papers comming through i think we are safe for a long long while, anyone want to put a tenner on it wont come through within the next 2 years. my opinion.

and what is it with us lot, its a tax so we gotta pay it, we better just do it because the goverment say so, christ is it not about time we stood up to the goverment and said **** you. its tax after tax after tax


"Plans to force sea anglers to buy a £22 annual sea fishing licence are being CONSIDERED by the government. "

[The Great Wallsendo]

If you look at the Downing Street website there are loads of E-Petitions about licences, fishing quotas etc

The problem that I can see is that they are quite poorly worded and stand a good chance of being ignored

Why doesn't this forum start off it's own E-Petition - wording it correctly, and adding our names to it...?

[big_sean]

goverment

Bloody looney left goverment thats why we are in this mess ove a licence

Maggy Thatcher wouldnt have gone this far

[davem2005]

I was recently at a meeting between the ministerial advisors and 20+ different RSA representatives from all areas of the country and from all different disciplines of fishing.

The one thing all anglers present said was that they were against the license...no ifs no buts...show us what we will get for it and it may be acceptable.

This put the onus back to Defra to tell us what benifits we would get...and they offered nothing.

So what happens now?

Defra have launched a campaign to get in touch with anglers, get their feed back and "take it into account". This will run till march 08 and they have said they will take every opportunity offered to speak to anglers. If invited they will attend weighings, match registrations, AGM's, tackle shows and any other opportuniy to talk directly to the grass roots anglers. If anyone would like to take the ministerial advisors up on their offer I would be happy to help arrange it with the right people.

With regard to what we should be doing. Get in touch with your MP and voice your opinion to them. As Sless knows this can have dramatic effects, particularly in a marginal constituency. You can find your MP's details at

TheyWorkForYou.com: Are your MPs and Peers working for you in the UK's Parliament?

That site will also send an email direct to your MP...could not be simpler and far more direct than signing a petition, although that is a good idea too. If anyone is unsure of what to write just let me know and I will happy suplly some examples of what to put but you do need to use your own words. MP's have to read and reply to correspondence by law , but dont expect a reply by return.

The marine bill is not an introduction of a sea fishing license, it puts in place the legislation to allow a sea fishing license to be introduced, there is a subtle and important difference which includes a lot of dotting i's and crossing t's. Its up to anglers to fight for changes to our fishing experience ( bigger and more fish) BEFORE the license is forced upon us.

This thread started with a comment about the dramatic loss of trade experienced in Portugal when a license was introduced. The tackle trade are well aware of this and are opposing the introduction wholeheartedly.

From a personal point of view I agree with most that we will eventually see the introduction of a sea angling license BUT like many of the others who are campaigning against it want to see improvements first before we are asked to pay for it. As a member of the Northumbria sea fisheries Committee I have been appalled at the total lack of intrest show by the committee to what anglers want from our shores and hope that the marine bill will go some way to rectifying this situation before we even consider paying a license fee.

Cheers
Dave

[Mogthemackem]

I'm not actually opposed to paying for a license as long as it means there will be plenty of checks and most of the people who are the problem aren't let off without paying for one. Not sure how this is going to affect my project (and others) though as I have different kids every week. It could mean the end of something with is very worthwhile and standing up for everything the government are moaning about

[johnf]

It all boils down to "whats in it for us". No change in commercial quotas, the continuing dumping of dead "non target species" by boats, nets 200m off shore, strings of pots 20m from piers. No exclusion zones. Fishing is in it's death throws. The charvas will not be paying & I can't see midnight raids on the rock edges of Northumberland ever happening. Until things change I'll not be stealth taxed for sea fishing

[davem2005]

Mog,
We were lead to believe that a similar consession sytem to that one used in the freshwater license would be put in place... Under 12 free etc. Not that it has been discussed within defra of course

John,
Its fine posting that here but email it to your mp.

One of the things that does need rectifying is the marking of static gear. It is unlikley that there are nets 200m off the shore and the same goes for pots near piers as both would be illegal in most situations, but not the other way round

Its heartbreaking to be fishing and all you can see out to sea is Dan's which if properly marked could be reported. There are very few static netters here in the NE so what you are seeing is likely to be pots which have little or no impact on the fish stocks apart from grabbing your gear. The current method of marking does not differentiate between the two and therefore makes illegal fishing harder to report.

Cheers
Dave

[The Great Wallsendo]

2009

• Petrol will be £1.50 per litre
• Council Tax will have grown by 25%
• Car Tax will have increased by 25%
• Pay as you drive will have been introduced - but STILL keeping Car Tax
• Congestion Charges on every road into every town and city
• Sea Rod licence introduced - cost set to rise by 10% each year thereafter (exaggerated - not fact)

the list goes on...

BUT...

• Salaries will have been capped by Business in the face of rising overheads
• Job Losses throughout all sectors
• Housing market plummets - leaving millions in negative equity

again the list goes on...

We must be mad in this country, because we just let it happen...

[treeboa]

dont worry, by the time this comes in we will all be paying per mile in our cars, so travelling to a venue by car will be too expensive, plus speed cams will be every where, the none uk boats will by then have not only raped the golden goose but killed it as well, everything else but wages and benifits will have gone up to bring the poverty line closer to everyones wallet, no doubt we will have seen a ban on lead being used for wieghts as well and powercasting will be deemed ileagal and beachcasters using the penderlum will be in the same class as someone with a long blade knife

i remember reading a long time ago in one of the fishing papers a story about were you purchased time share in a robotic fish, as all the fish were by then dead, your float i think it was had a sensor in it which when it was your time to catch acitvated the fish to take your hook, obviously the more you paid the more you caught


wonder how many of us that trangress will end up banged up inside, then again i bet the ministry officials that police this will have bloody good floatation suits supplied