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The new Marine Bill is out for consultation. Once again there are some dodgy proposals which need to be clarified.
This is from the Draft Marine Bill Policy Paper, in the paragraphs, ”Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authorities”. The danger, as far as I can see, is that the proposal gives no distinction between commercial and recreational fishing. They only specify "Sea Fishery Resources". A very broad brush.
3.92 IFCA’s – Their powers will include “The introduction of chargeable permits”
3.97 “ All local authorities must fund their IFCA. IFCA’s will be able to charge fishermen to offset some of their costs of operating permit schemes”
And who are the IFCA’s ? They are the replacement for the Sea Fish Committees. They will consist of max 21 members. 10 (third + 3) would appear to be local polititions/quango’s. The rest are elected “with knowledge or expertise” in the marine environment. So we could get a committee heavily biased with commercial interests voting to charge recreational sea anglers a licence. The excuse will be to “offset their(IFCA's) operating costs”. The reality, is the potential elimination of a growing threat to the commercial's status quo, ie. us, recreational sea anglers.
This is from the Draft Marine Bill Policy Paper, in the paragraphs, ”Inshore Fisheries & Conservation Authorities”. The danger, as far as I can see, is that the proposal gives no distinction between commercial and recreational fishing. They only specify "Sea Fishery Resources". A very broad brush.
3.92 IFCA’s – Their powers will include “The introduction of chargeable permits”
3.97 “ All local authorities must fund their IFCA. IFCA’s will be able to charge fishermen to offset some of their costs of operating permit schemes”
And who are the IFCA’s ? They are the replacement for the Sea Fish Committees. They will consist of max 21 members. 10 (third + 3) would appear to be local polititions/quango’s. The rest are elected “with knowledge or expertise” in the marine environment. So we could get a committee heavily biased with commercial interests voting to charge recreational sea anglers a licence. The excuse will be to “offset their(IFCA's) operating costs”. The reality, is the potential elimination of a growing threat to the commercial's status quo, ie. us, recreational sea anglers.