Whats happening at the ACA ?

[Jim Roper]

Ah would some power,

The Gi'er gi' us,

To see ourselves,

As others see us.

 

Evil Thee, who evil thinks!

 

http://www.saint-hubert.org

 

[ 01. December 2004, 05:31 PM: Message edited by: Jim Roper ]

[Brian Crawford]

Jim Gibbinson:

Any organisation that depends on voluntary contributions needs to be perceived as being totally trustworthy and highly efficient; if would-be contributors start to have doubts there is every likelihood that they will withdraw their support. If the ACA is undermined by current events, it is likely that it will have been dealt a mortal blow.

 

The reasons for the suspensions of Jane and Bob James have not yet been made public, so Bruno and others who have adopted a defensive role are correct - "innocent until proved guilty", and all that - but the trouble is, these suspensions have come on the back of concerns and reservations that a number of us already had. Perhaps our concerns were/are unwarranted, but when doubts are harboured and suspensions subsequently occur, it's very difficult to maintain a completely neutral stance. This isn't schadenfreude, nor having "cartilage rather than bone", but a natural - although, admittedly, possibly unjustified - tendency to think that one's doubts and reservations possibly had substance.

Bob and Jane James and ACA have now parted company. End of story. As from 30th November 2004. (ACA Press Release!!)

 

Brian Crawford

[Brian Crawford]

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE ACA, Wednesday 1st December 2004

 

 

The ACA and the James family part company

 

Bob and Jane James and the Anglers Conservation Association jointly believe that it is in the best interests of the sport of angling that they should part company and have agreed to do so by way of mutual agreement with effect from 30 November, on the basis of the James' accepting severance terms which will remain confidential.

 

 

NOTES:

 

• The ACA was founded in 1948 with the purpose of using common law to fight to protect fisheries.

 

• Since that time, we have won in excess of two thousand cases and recovered over £2 million in damages, ALL of which is returned to the members we represent. Throughout our history, we have lost only three cases. At any one time, we typically have about fifty cases running.

 

 

<ENDS>

[Peter Waller]

And we are, as we might expect, left guessing!

 

But now the ACA can get on rebuilding itself and doing what it does best, effectively fighting pollution.

 

How can severance terms remain confidential for heavens sakes? The members surely have a right to know where their money is going, don't they?

 

[ 03. December 2004, 07:16 PM: Message edited by: Peter Waller ]

[Brian Carragher]

got to agree with all of Bruno Broughtons comments on the ACA.

For those that dont know the river tees would not be the fishery that it is today without the sterling effort of all of those wihin the ACA. Over £300,000 was recovered for all the member clubs in the 80's (god knows what that would be worth these days)and it can only undertake civil recovery action for its members from the person or company responsible for polluting.

All the money recovered by the ACA went into a restocking fund for the benefit of all member clubs and everybody who fish's the river today whether member or not has benefitted from that money. If it was'nt for the ACA we would'nt have received that money so I say more power to the ACA and good luck in the future.

As for Bob and Jane James it would be better if those people who post personal negative comments about them waited until the James themselves had had a chance to defend their reputations.

[Peter Waller]

In an ideal world Brian, an amicable joint statement would be issued. But that is as likely as Norwich winning the Premiereship!

 

Both sides have been damaged by this. But however you look at it there must have been reason for the suspension. And that being the case, since no information has been forthcoming, people will guess and speculate, thats human nature.

 

It also says something about the general concern felt for the ACA and its future.

[wearyone]

I only hope the S/EGM goes ahead.

I would have expected that the announcement would have been made to those who are to pay the severance money, the members of the ACA, before any public statement was made.

 

Surely, any payment made to the two should show in the audited accounts, thats if anyone ever gets to see them.

 

[ 03. December 2004, 11:15 PM: Message edited by: wearyone ]

[Graham Mole]

For information -- from today's Indpendent

Across the site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TV angler and wife quit conservation group in row over fund use

By Cahal Milmo

04 December 2004

 

 

To millions of armchair anglers, Bob James is the face of British fishing. Starring in the television series, Passion for Angling, he steered 18 million devotees through the intricacies of spinners and the joys of casting into a still pond on a dewy morning.

 

When he joined forces with the Anglers' Conservation Association, the respected body which for 55 years has quietly gone about its business of prosecuting polluters of Britain's watercourses, it was assumed to be a good omen for the nation's most popular participation sport.

 

Not any more. Ripples of consternation ran through the sedate world of British angling yesterday after it was announced that Mr James and his wife Jane, the ACA's director for 18 years, were leaving the organisation after an argument over allegations against them of misconduct.

 

The high-profile departures were described as a blow to the prestige of the ACA, whose patron is the Duke of Edinburgh, and whose president is Chris Tarrant, the presenter of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? Other celebrities are among its 13,000 members.

 

In a terse statement, the ACA announced that the Jameses and its trustees had decided "that is in the best interests of the sport of angling that they should part company and have agreed to do so by way of mutual agreement".

 

The details of the dispute and the severance terms were last night the subject of a binding confidentiality agreement.

 

But The Independent has learnt that prior to their departure the couple were the subject of an internal investigation after a range of accusations were levelled against them, including the alleged theft of a 90p stamp and benefiting from a £400 printing bill.

 

The allegations threaten to split the world of angling, which has four million active participants who each spend an average of £1,000 a year on their hobby, making it one of the most lucrative sports in the country.

 

Friends of Mr James, whose partnership with fellow angler Chris Yates in BBC2's Passion for Angling made them Britain's best-known fishermen as they toured the nation, yesterday described the claims as "ludicrous".

 

One colleague, a senior figure in angling, said: "Bob and Jane have dedicated many years to the ACA and they have been effectively hounded out on trumped-up charges.

 

"One claim was that Bob stole a stamp worth less than a pound. It's ridiculous given that over the years he has given many hours beyond his contract and thousands of pounds worth of equipment in the name of the ACA."

 

It is understood that Mr James, who worked three days a week as the ACA's press officer, attended a disciplinary hearing last month at the body's headquarters at Leominster, Herefordshire, to answer questions about the £400 printing bill for leaflets advertising his fishing business.

 

Sources familiar with the case said that the couple had been "naïve" in allowing the leaflets to be printed but insisted there had been no dishonesty. The ACA declined to comment on whether its disciplinary committee had formally found against the couple.

 

Mr James, 47, said yesterday he was saddened by the episode, after eight years working with the ACA, and that he had fallen foul of a wider jealousy in the world of angling. Fishing yesterday with his close friend Mr Tarrant, he said: "Both my wife and I are very sad that it came to this. We absolutely deny that we did anything wrong. But there are lots of people out there who have become green-eyed monsters.

 

"They see what I did on TV and they become jealous. Among the more ridiculous -rumours I've had to deal with is that my wife and I are so wealthy that we own Range Rovers with matching number plates. Actually I own a five-year-old Saab."

 

The fisherman, who found himself in the pages of The News of the World eight years ago when his affair with Jane and their subsequent marriage was made public, said he would now be concentrating on writing, and a new television project.

 

But there were signs of further fall-out from the argument for the ACA after at least one member of its governing council, Mick Watson, resigned this week over the affair.

 

Mr Watson has joined ACA members calling for an emergency general meeting about the direction of the body, which was founded in 1949 to seek compensation for fisheries affected by pollution and other forms of damage. It has so far won more than 2,000 cases, netting damages worth more than £2m.

 

Mr Watson said: "A lot of people are angry and concerned that the ACA is being distracted from its true purpose. Events like those of this week do not help that impression."

 

The ACA dismissed the claim. Karen Capper, the body's head of legal affairs, said: "Any suggestion we are in decline could not be further from the truth. We are continuing to defend the interests of anglers and go from strength to strength."

[Jim Gibbinson]

Too many questions remain unanswered.

 

This, I reckon, is the worst of all possible outcomes for all parties.

[*Ant*]

It would seem we will never get to the bottom of this sad episode.