Please read this

[Stores]

Having trawled through the latest potential attack on our freedom to fish I have taken the liberty to write the following. Everyone who reads and agrees with it helps our cause.

Further to Loopy’s post regarding possible changes regarding OUR access to OUR coastline and to support him on his representation of all NE recreational sea anglers in London this coming week can you please read the statement below. Evidence of your support is not necessary, other than the fact that you have read this thread and, by not replying, you are happy that it reflects your feelings. Should you disagree with the statement feel free to comment in the usual way.

- As anglers who regularly fish the NE coast we support the demand that access to all areas south of Alnmouth and as far as St Marys Island are maintained, either for bait collection or for recreational sea angling.

- We oppose any change of status to any river estuary south of the Aln and we oppose any attempt to change laws relating to bait collection and / or fishing from their shores.

Les is happy to represent our interests in the many meetings and forums he attends. Our job is to convince those who make the decisions of our passion for RSF in the North East.

Thanks for taking the time and trouble. PM me if you want to know more.

[Stores]

Elton posted this 8 days ago and it's had 50 hits. Maybe it's time to get worried.

Sea Angling: Plans managing to worry anglers
Mar 6 2011 Sunday Sun
AFTER the shock of the proposed MCZs for Northumberland, there is more for North East anglers to be worried about.
The NFSAS (Northern Federation of Sea Angling Societies) has found in the Yorkshire Humberside Hub report, that Area 1D (Coatham Sands) is, as feared, a possible MCZ site.
If this area is selected as an MCZ, that means every major bait bed in the North East, whether it is for lug, rag or white rag from Berwick to Redcar (at least), is under direct threat from some sort of management.
Management tools are to be discussed at the next round of hub meetings. Management will be backed up by byelaws which at present are just in draft state.
However, it is what the order could be used for which worries angling bodies.The Act could modernise inshore fisheries management arrangements in England and Wales.In England it replaces Sea Fisheries Committees (SFCs) with Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs), whose purpose will be to manage sustainably the exploitation of sea fisheries resources in their districts.
IFCAs will be under a clear duty to protect the marine environment from the impact of fishing on marine ecosystems.IFCAs will have powers of inspection and enforcement as well as strengthened byelaw-making powers (for inshore fishery activities) to ensure more effective management of marine habitats in the inshore area.This includes activities such as bait digging, which is presently not regulated by SFCs.

[Red5]

Just read it mate..

Think most people know my opinions on bait beds.....Won't open up that can of worms again....Scuse the pun!

[Stores]

This is going on next month. Have included a paragraph from it and the list of speakers. Don't think any of them can hoy oot with a scarboro

Marine Protected Areas - aspiration or reality?

North Sea Marine Cluster Conference
7th April, London

"We could be on the brink of the greatest positive set of changes in the way that our seas are managed. Across the broad sweep of marine management, the planned reforms are at that delicate stage between conception and implementation. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are seen as one of the most important tools for protecting the marine environment. The UK Government and the Devolved Administrations are committed to a massive expansion of MPAs over a short period of years: a process already underway. But, experience elsewhere and the hard lessons of the past suggest that disappointment could be around the corner if insufficient attention is given to the practicalities of implementation. For this reason we have commissioned two recent studies looking at the implementation of MPAs and what can be done to ensure that they are more than just “paper parks”. The studies also look at how the potential tensions between conservation and safeguarding the marine economy might be resolved."

Richard Benyon MP, Minister for Natural Environment and Fisheries
Carla Montesi, Director, DG MARE, European Commission,
Jim Smyllie, Executive Director, Natural England,
Carolyn Cadman , Director of Networks, MMO
Elizabeth Moore, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Gregory Darling, Chairman of the Gardline Group
Professor Charles Sheppard, University of Warwick
Professor Bela Buck – Alfred-Wegener Institute
Dr Wanfei Qiu, University College, London
Kate Sugar, RSPB
Barry Deas, Chief Executive, NFFO
Daniel Owen, Barrister, Fenners Chambers
Peter Barham, Seabed User and Developers Group
Paul Reynolds, Renewable UK

Red - if we lose the access to the estuaries (that'll be everyone's tyres etc) and the coastline is protected under the banner of MCZ or MPA, there'll be loads of worms....you just won't be able to touch them.

[<(Andy2009)>]

Agree completely, a dont want to lose my crab haven!!

[Stores]

If you look at the speaker list the fishing one is the NFFO - the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisation and, I believe, they basically represent the commercial guys so it looks as if we don't start with a level playing ground. I see the RSPB are there though. Wonder if they'll try to make nesting boxes of your tyres Andy.

[loopy]

Thanks guys Dave have had 475 hits on this thread I had 361 on "just a few months left" with 8 replies and I have had 113 on other forums with just 3 replies.
I will include these numbers in my feed back as the number of anglers consulted along with ones I have spoken to individually. = 963 + the membership of the 37 clubs in the NFSAS. As I said Thanks It makes a big difference.
I spoke to Richard Benyon on Wednesday and asked him if his government intended to licence RSA he replied that he did not wish to add another layer of bureaucracy but implied that it may come from another direction, at a guess under the CFP revue in other words Europe. I hope I will have another opportunity to speak to him on Monday at The Angling Summit and ask him to be more specific but I know I will get the same answer.
Lots more coming our way in the next few months one item up for discussion is “un-licenced activity” bait digging and crab collection perhaps ???

[broony]

Sorry for being thick but can someone explain for me please?

This map MCZ Interactive Map seems to indicate that the whole area from Alnmouth down to Whitley bay is a proposed marine conservation zone.

Does this mean that this whole area is being proposed as passing bylaws to ban bait collection, or commercial fishing, or sea angling or all of that?

Or is it juast that this area need further consideration?

Is it a possibility that we could lose all angling access to this area?

Thanks

[Stores]

Sorry for being thick but can someone explain for me please?

This map MCZ Interactive Map seems to indicate that the whole area from Alnmouth down to Whitley bay is a proposed marine conservation zone.

Does this mean that this whole area is being proposed as passing bylaws to ban bait collection, or commercial fishing, or sea angling or all of that?

Or is it juast that this area need further consideration?

Is it a possibility that we could lose all angling access to this area?

Thanks

Hi Broony,

Speaking for myself here (I'm sure Les will mark my essay when he gets back from London) worst case scenario is that the whole stretch becomes an MCZ and the more influencial, richer parties make the loudest noises and we, the largest number statistically but the weakest collectively get trampled underfoot. The Northern Federation would have fought our case but there's not many members (me included) so their power is limited.

It might be that, through negotiation, the size is reduced but the big players (like the RSPB and the Environment Agency) get first dabs at the best bits for them - so the RSPB, through legislation, bans us from areas around Druridge Bay, the EA, wanting to clear up our "rubbish" dabs the estuaries and cleans out all the crabbing areas, good crabbing areas in the sea become no take zones, so no fishing or bait collection. Have a think how many decent areas for collecting lug there are and how easy it would be for the "opposition" to highlight how little of the coastline they're grabbing but how devastating it could be.

I believe the process will take some time but I also believe it will come. Broony - you did well to read the maps. I don't think it's a coincidence that the scale is so small.

[Charlton]

. The Northern Federation would have fought our case but there's not many members (me included) so their power is limited.

take exception to that statement the NFSAS has over 3,000 members and have proved in the past we have quite a bit of clout, and with a couple of new members with the right connections we will have a quite a bit more.
Although you are right the twitchers etc have plenty of money and vocal support, whereas many anglers hide their head in the sand and only statrt shouting when it is to late.

[Stores]

Stand corrected Alan. Thank you for the statistic - perhaps what I was trying to say was that the federation could be (and should be) more of a voice in the area.

Alan - how do anglers join the NFSAS?

[Charlton]

David at the moment there is no single membership, it is basically clubs that are the members, but we are working on it, seems as if quite a few anglers would like to join as individuals as they do not want to be in a club.
PS ignore the e mail I just sent.

[Stores]

David at the moment there is no single membership, it is basically clubs that are the members, but we are working on it, seems as if quite a few anglers would like to join as individuals as they do not want to be in a club.
PS ignore the e mail I just sent.

Thanks for that Alan - perhaps members of NESA who are not club members might reply to this if they would join as individuals (should the opportunity arise). Have spoken to Rod and he would, so there's 2 to start you off.

Oh and which e-mail do you want me to ignore? The one asking where this thread had gone or the one telling me to ignore the one asking me where the thread had gone?.....and it was only eight o'clock lol

[Stores]

Can I draw your attention to this thread.

http://www.nesa.co.uk/forums/shore-angling-issues/38130-sea-angling-2012-a.html#post246356

It's the event Loopy Les attended on our behalf. It asks us to give some evidence of our catch rates. For my part this was my reply:

"So why don't we be honest and tell the truth. There'll be a formula out there (I'll make one up if you like) that shows how long we fish per fish kept, that shows how much we contribute to the local community while we're catching sod all and how many fish we return against keepers. We're all different but ask yourselves how many sessions in the last 12 months compared to how many fish - I bet, as a group, we make depressing reading. So let's tell them that - on average we catch little, pay loads to tackle shops, tidy the rock ends or beach and contribute loads to the holiday trade in Scotland, Norway and the like. As Alan says if we don't contribute they'll run us ragged."

We need to be involved in this. Perhaps NESA could take a lead in illuminating those in Brussels that sea fishing is not all it's cracked up to be and that we do what we do for the personal satisfaction, karma or whatever we get out of it.

[lingking]

Can I draw your attention to this thread.

http://www.nesa.co.uk/forums/shore-angling-issues/38130-sea-angling-2012-a.html#post246356

It's the event Loopy Les attended on our behalf. It asks us to give some evidence of our catch rates. For my part this was my reply:

"So why don't we be honest and tell the truth. There'll be a formula out there (I'll make one up if you like) that shows how long we fish per fish kept, that shows how much we contribute to the local community while we're catching sod all and how many fish we return against keepers. We're all different but ask yourselves how many sessions in the last 12 months compared to how many fish - I bet, as a group, we make depressing reading. So let's tell them that - on average we catch little, pay loads to tackle shops, tidy the rock ends or beach and contribute loads to the holiday trade in Scotland, Norway and the like. As Alan says if we don't contribute they'll run us ragged."

We need to be involved in this. Perhaps NESA could take a lead in illuminating those in Brussels that sea fishing is not all it's cracked up to be and that we do what we do for the personal satisfaction, karma or whatever we get out of it.

thats a brilliant post david fishing is a mission/challenge man against fish and the fish do pretty well i would imagine the sport contributes to local economy,hol.trade as you say,housekeeping issues,and equally important provide employment,and in some places/cases provide a route for young people to do something of interest,led by fishing clubs and other agencys