andy_youngs

Shame, never mind. My name isn't Paul, it's Andrew

Well ok, so if the issue is sea fishing licenses or bag limits, then I'll probably get the 200. If not, then I won't and you and Bob will continue squabbling. It does seem to me that the recreational sea anglers and the inland canoeists have a common cause though. Look on it as 'tactical voting' As it stands, maybe I'd get 200 freshwater anglers, 200 canoeoists, and 20-30 recreational sea anglers. It's still enough to tilt the balance, so bring it on .....

point taken steve, you're right. I should have said 'very many' or 'thousands'. Millions is certainly stretching it.

Thanks mate. I can see you and Bob Shotter have got some differences, and I'm not sure what that's about, but I ask you, if I could pin down Martin Salter to a public debate, do you reckon the RSA could muster a contingent? I need a minimum of 200 from the RSA, 200 canoeists (absolutely no problem), and 200 from the Angling Trust (boo)

I've just had my ban from the Fishing Magic forum extended from 1 month to indefinite because of this thread (apparently I've brought them into disrepute). What a tragic loss to my life ....

Not sure that I agree with that Steve. My hunch is that the placid, easy going majority outnumber the vocal, intolerant minority.

No it didn't. It started over the simple fact that there are millions of anglers out there who also value their rights to paddle down their local river. You could do worse. After all, Martin Salter has promised me a public debate, and I aim to hold him to it ...

That operating a system whereby someone is awarded 3 penalty points every time they infringe the rules, and anyone who accumulates more than 12 points in a month receives a ban is a rediculous way of moderating a forum. If you break the rules then you should get a warning, and if you persist, you get banned. Simple.

I don't think there's much danger of that Barry. There is a serious side to this though. The points you make about AT transparency over a range of issues, most notably the appointment of directors, are very relevant. I don't really care about the FM forum. I regard it as a bit of a side show. But banning an individual for voicing his opinions? They'll be burning books next, on the grounds that the content contravenes their terms and conditions.

Actually phone, I didn't start that way. I called the general AT polilcy facsism about halfway through the thread. A mod asked me to edit it, and I refused. As a result, one of the mods wrote to me telling me that I had been given 3 points. I queried what that meant, and he expained that the points would be valid for a month, and if I reached 12 points then I would be banned. I told him to stop being so bloody stupid, and that he should either ban me or shut up. I really don't see how you can describe that as no fun. I found it enormously entertaining.

yeah, makes you wonder why our parents bothered fighting the last 2 world wars. we just hand it all over to people like Martin Salter so they can build little private empires and then prevent others from having their say.

Thanks for clarifying. That helps.

I don't know who Graham is Budgie. All I know is that FM is edited by Geoff Maynard, and I've been treated me like s**t, and AN is edited by Elton Murphy and I've always been treated ok here. I accept that I have controversial views about navigation rights which do not sit easily with some anglers, but I have NEVER promoted people being banned or prevented from having their say. I'm afraid I'm still spitting venom about the sheer arrogange of these people Budgie. How dare Martin Salter presume to offer me a public debate and then retract on it? This man is a Director of the Angling Trust for Christ's sake. Are there no directors of the AT who read this forum?

Sorry phone, don't mean to bore you, you've been a good supporter. You are correct that I am stuck in a bit of fight with the hierachy of the Angling Trust at the moment. They've just appointed an ex MP to the Board, who publicly agreed on a rival forum to meet me and engage in a public debate. But no sooner had he done so, than the editer locked the thread and banned me from the forum for a period of 1 month. This is the link : http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/fm-news-feature-comments/ If you want to help, then send the editer a message telling him that he's a w******r. Thanks, Andy

You're not wrong Deeno. This guy is a fascist, and he should be resisted. He's not fighting for fishing, he's trying to feather his own nest. I confirm that he's been on the net recently. But it's not to dismiiss a silly conspricacy theory ... it's been far more destructive than that ... http://www.fishingmagic.com/forums/fm-news...intment-11.html

I've just been banned from the Fishing Magic forum for a period of 1 month. Reason : I criticised Mark Lloyd and provoked a public reply from Martin Salter who challenged me to a public debate. I accepted, and requested that he send me a personal message so that we could arrange things. He failed to send me a message, and the FM forum then banned me. I've got a hunch that Elton has a bit more about him. Are you going to ban me Elton, or can we discuss this?

Martin Salter has cynically promoted more hard feeling between anglers and other river users than any other individual in the history of our sport. All for the sake of New Labour 'popularism'. Make no mistake, he doesn't give a toss about the environment, or whether something is 'right or wrong'. All he cares about is pandering his own selfish lobby groups. I can't believe the AT have done this.

The big names of angling might have endorsed him, but I haven't. I don't like him, and I don't trust him.

We've gone from meeting minutes between the UK Environment Agency and the UK Angling Trust in which an injustice in national stocking policy is highlighted, to a discussion about the survival of an endangered species which is indigenous to both of our countries. I agree that this thread has certainly been properly mashed. But isn't that the whole point of a public forum? Everyone's free to present their opinions, and we all stand or fall by the validity of the views that we post. I think this is the AN forum at its best.

I think we're in danger of turning Elton's fine angling forum into a football forum. Phone, if you want to see Manchester United play a truly competitive match then tune into to the EPL. And if you ever visit the UK, then try and make a point of eating fresh elvers on toast ... it's a treat, and I guarantee you will put on pounds ...

No angler wants to catch eels Phone. Disgusting creatures. But then i don't think any right minded people would want to see them extinct either ... everything has a place, and I have to say that a spoonful of fried elvers on toast for breakfast, or properly smoked adult eels for supper, is a marvellous culinary experience. As I'm sure you're aware, the Sargasso Sea lies to west of the Gulf of Mexico roughly half way between us. It's more than 2 miles deep, and nobody really knows what goes on down there. A cursery examination of the map would suggest that in order to try and get an angle on what's really happening down there then studies need to expand from the UK and the USA to the Atlantic boarder of France, Spain, Portugal, Africa, Canada and the Carribean. Soccer on the other hand, is that beautiful game that is played by the whole world, with the sole exception of the USA ... your loss mate ...

That's amazing. The UK is 400 miles wide at it's widest. I live 20 miles from salt water on the opposite side of the UK mainland to the Atlantic. Where precisely are you in America? If you don't want to divulge your precise location in public, then just pick your nearest city and catchment. That's close enough. So am I, don't worry about it (UK spelling - ARSE. US spelling -ASS) Hell, phone, I was brought up the same way. I was taught to routinely kill any eels which I caught on rod and line (for the uninformed, killing an adult eel is not easy) I hope not, the purpose of the canary in the coal mine was to die. Phone, I'm afraid you have unintentionally contravened English soccer rules here. The Canaries aim to stay alive in the English Premier League. See here : http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/Home

Where are you phone? I'm guessing you're somewhere on the east coast of America, and we're really just on opposite sides of same troubled Sargasso pond. This is worthwhile, cos if UK and US eel reseach could be somehow connected then that would be a real, constructive development.

Don't really see what the problem is, just a few tuna fishermen plying their trade 12,000 miles away, perhaps someone could enlighten me as to why I'm supposed to care?

Yes it was. They might well have delegated the decision making to another authority, and they're probably now trying to distance themselves from it because it appears to be controversial. If I get this right, you feel aggreived because the authorities are preventing you from harvesting a tiny fraction of the elvers that are running up your local river on grounds that stocks have crashed in neighbouring catcments ... meanwhile, adult eels are routinely harvested by commercial fishermen in the North Sea, and the true source of the problem probably lies thousands of miles away in the Sargasso Sea. Is that correct? This link has been posted before, but it's still informative : That's not my experience of the way that the FOI Act is supposed to work. I suggest you ask the question again, and this time be more specific.