Abolishing the EA licence

[Alan Fawcett]

Pg 6 of todays AM in the left hand coloum very top article.

 

It seems three chaps from coventry have seen fit to get a petition together to abolish the EA rod licence claiming the goverment should fund it.

 

They have already got support from two NON angling MP's.

 

Now my question is

 

Would you sign this petition??

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Now before you decided think carefully about it.

1) while we are paying the goverment will have to think about the amount of money at stake if they abolish angling.

2) If we aren't paying then the anti's will find so much easier to get rid of the "sponging/freeloading" anglers.

3) Why are two non angling MP's interested in helping angling?? (hidden agenda maybe?)

4) while we pay we have a say (well to some extent)

5) While the rod licence exists they will need bailiffs to do checks , so no rod licence no bailiffs & unemployment will go up.

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So there you go i'll let you decide.

[phil dean]

To me a rod licence is the thing which stops a twerp having a go for fish with totally inappropriate gear, if they're willing to fork out for a licence, some thought must have gone into it.

 

It's a bit like a dog licence, it's something to make you stop and think first.

 

I'm for it, and as you mention Alan, so long as we pay we have some right to be listened to.

 

HOWEVER

 

I am in favour of free licences for children accompanied by an adult, under the age of 12, or on their own above, but would want the same to be applied for by postal application, making people think what they are doing.

 

I would also advocate a free licence for over 60/65's on a similar basis.

 

For the unwaged...similar provisions or just a cheaper licence.

 

For me, thankfully, £20 a year makes very little difference and to think that it gives me some rights (and from a legal point of view that is almost certainly the case) then I am happy to pay.

[Simon Newbould]

Hmmm,

 

a very dubious idea indeed....

 

my vote says "keep it" no way would I sign that!

 

Simon

[Dave Hill]

Roughly a million Licences at £20 each = £20M...Less the cost of administering and policing the system.

 

Small change as far as the government is concerned, I doubt this buys us any influence anyway!

[Dave Hill]

On this note, if I thought I could get some rights by paying for a licence such as enforced respect from boatists, pedestrians, ramblers, joggers etc or even angling only zones on various waterways... then I would willingly pay £100pa maybe even more!!!

[Alan Fawcett]

Dave

 

Boatists pay a bit more than £20 a year though!!

 

As for the rest well its all down to the individual person as to whether they'll respect you or not & of course if they were made to respect you (enforced) then the respect wouldn't be real & i for one would rather have a few show real respect than fake respect from a lot.

 

The angling only zones on waterways are already being put into action.

[Dave Hill]

Alan,

 

Good point, I wasn't even aware boatists paid anything at all! I wonder if they are aware that anglers pay for the privilege as well?

 

Good news about angling zones

 

On canals I have lost count of the number of towpath incidents I have seen or suffered. Usually from cyclists, joggers or on the odd occasion the 'I've got as much right as you and I'm not waiting for you to move it' type. :mad:

[Paul Williams]

I used to run the canal towpaths, no angler ever offered to move his pole.....it is us who think we have a god given right at times......canals are the realm of many, they are perfect for biking, running and of course family holidays......i don't fish them because i don't like sharing the water with so many, we all have that choice......but others have at least as much right as us on them.

Oops going off at a tangent......i'll not sign the petition!

[Scott]

As both an angler and boat owner I will add my bit to the boat v angler argument that is starting here.

I fish the big waters of the Lake District of the main Lakes most are free fishing one is £4 a day and 2 others can be fished on a £30 season ticket.

To use my boat on these waters only one of them makes a charge for boat use the others dont but they all make a charge for launching and or mooring. Launching costs are between £5 and £25 depending on which water, payable everytime you launch. Mooring (leaving your boat in the water or at the end of a jetty) Starts around £250 and ends at £1200 per year.

My local canal, boat launching £25 canal fees for the year depend on length of boat but start around £250 and go up to around £750,Boat day tickets are available and start at £5 for a very small boat up to around £30 for a normal canal sized boat, then add to this compulsary insurance and the fact your boat has to have the equivelent of an MOT every 3 years (was £60 a few year ago) and on top of this you will have to pay a mooring fee or leave your boat in an unsecure area.

On waters where boats and anglers mix, it will be the boaters that are paying, and paying the sort of money that most anglers never would.

If you were paying anything between £30 and £55 for a canal day ticket, you would expect other users to defer to you.

So the next time a 30ft boat disturbs your swim just remember its costing him at least £1000 a year to do that. Without boaters on canals they would end up as rubbish dumps and chocked with weed, I know some of them can be iritating, but so can some anglers.

 

Phil Dean your quote " To me a rod licence is the thing which stops a twerp having a go for fish with totally inappropriate gear". you will find that type of angler wont have a licence or even know such a thing exists.And there are still a few that fish like that with a licence.

 

Scott.

The Fishing Directory

[phonebush]

Money talks the world around.

£20 million is always more productive than righteous conduct.

Phone:D

Edit: If anything, and I had a vote, I would lean toward raising the fees.

 

[ 13 March 2002, 09:38 PM: Message edited by: phonebush ]