Countryside Alliance Response To EA News

[Tim Kelly]

I would have no problem paying £50 for a rod licence if it meant angling was taken more seriously and they worried less about salmon and more about the fish most people come into contact with.

 

Decent enforcement is all that's needed and if the licence fee was higher it might make it more worthwhile patrolling the banks properly. Whenever I've been stopped in a boat all they are interested in is the boat licence, never ever get asked for a rod licence.

[Bob Bradford]

I do not have it "in" for the EA and I am sure neither do most anglers , including Mr Jardine, but they are failing us on several issues ,the most pressing is enforcing the current laws of this land, they are and should be accountable to anglers considering ALL of our licence fees go to them! so for that reason anglers ( and Mr Jardine is one) are starting to ask questions of them, here is my latest, and here is the reply I received today, it may interest some of you;

 

Dear Bob

 

Thank you for your email regarding Enforcement Bailiffs

 

This has been logged as a Freedom of Information Request, your

reference number is *******

 

We received your request on 24th February 2006, we aim to formerly

respond within 20 working days as per the Environment Agency Customer

charter ( deadline date 24th March 2006)

 

Kind Regards

 

Samantha Shaw

 

I have deleted the ref no for obvious reasons and will post on here their answer,regards Bob.

[Alan Fawcett]

Argyl

 

I've got to admit i have never seen the EA deal with boaters speeding, i have seen BW do it but not the EA, as for fishing the rivers during the closed season.i do it and will freely admit i do because the way i'm understanding it there is no law saying you cannot fish a river during the closed season.

 

 

I have no argument that the EA have been a dissapointment in the past any angler can tell you that but at least they're trying.

 

Checking licences...i had my checked for the very first time when i went to stay at scoobs house in Penrith (im 33 and been fishing for as long as i can remember) , we were fishing a pond (can't remember what its called) and the chap came along and asked for my licence which i showed him and he signed then happily told me he has never caught anyone without one in that area and he covered the whole of the lake district along with just 3 others because funding didn't allow for anymore.

 

As for being pleased...yes i am i'm very pleased to see the EA release a statement putting Angling into a good light considering all the crap its faced from the likes of P*ta and the other anti groups.

 

Why did i call Mr Jardine a ****....because IMO thats what he is for releasing a statement like his so quickly after the EA had released theirs.....like i said i hope they don't think "whats the use" and give up on the idea.

 

 

Bob

 

I contacted my local EA office and was then directed to the area office at Lichfield, i was offering to bailiff for free in and around the stafford area...there reply was "sorry but we can't get you insured unless you're a paid employee" i explained that i was more than willing to sign a waiver to cover them should anything happen but they still couldn't do it due to the "blame and claim" society of today

 

I'll just stick with being a pain n the ass and asking anyone i see if they've got a rod licence..after all it is my legal entitlement to do it.

[Bob Bradford]

Alan, All anglers know how difficult it is to police some venues and the EA should accept help when it is offered, the most common problem I am led to believe is the " I saw this bloke ...... I phoned the EA..... but no-one was interested" scenario, this clearly needs addressing! as Matt Hayes would ask "what are we paying our licence money for?" .

 

I am trying to find out exactly how many enforcement bailiffs the EA have and use to protect fish stocks in England, once we get that figure published and in the public domain, we may see why there are very few prosecutions for fish theft!

 

I will put a pound to a penny there are not enough! I will further wager if more are recruited ,ANGLERS will foot the bill and the licence fee will rocket, but we cannot have it both ways...can we? £50 for a licence? I am willing to pay that but ONLY if I get a first class service, I think most anglers would as well , but we must not be seen as a soft touch for our money, so I applaud any angler that demands answers (Mr Jardine) is just one of a growing band,regards Bob.

[Paul_D]

and asking anyone i see if they've got a rod licence..after all it is my legal entitlement to do it.

 

Is it? As I understood it an EA bailiff is required to show you his official identification before he can ask you to show your rod licence.....I could be wrong though.

 

My club books though, entitle me to ask to see any other anglers club books.

Edited March 2, 2006 by Paul_D

[slodger]

"I would have no problem paying £50 for a rod licence"

 

I can see the benefits that such a cost might contribute to our fishing, if it were feasible Tim. Unfortunately I don't believe for a minute that it is. In fact, I find this kind of increasingly common suggestion to be quite worrying. I honestly believe that such a measure would effectively kill angling, as a pastime for large numbers of people, stone dead inside of a decade. IMO it'd chase angling into a kind of eltist cul-de-sac, that would render it a much more viable target for the currently vociferous, but inneffective band of people who would wish to see our sport banned.

 

If such levels of cost had been in place when I first began to take an interest in angling, then we simply wouldn't be having this discussion now. There's way too many people who are on the north side of 'comfortable' as far as finance goes, that have either forgotten their own roots, or have never been on the south side of 'comfortable'. Coming from a one parent background, I just wouldn't have been able to take up the sport, and while I acknowledge that these modern times are considerably more affluent, I know there are still youngsters, and indeed adults, that such a cost would deter from taking an interest in angling.

 

Personally, though I appreciate it may be 'Pie in the sky', I'd like to see any extra monies needed for angling, and our aquatic environments in general, catered for by our elected government via the taxation system.

Edited March 2, 2006 by slodger

[Steve Walker]

The 50 quid rod licence:

 

To be honest, my gut response is that I pay a sodding fortune in tax already, most of which is spent on services I don't use, why should I pay a bit more for being an angler? Other sports, pastimes and interests get government subsidy, yet we get taxed? It isn't the amount, which is trivial, it's the principle.

 

Much of the work the EA does it would have to do whether there were anglers or not; abstraction, water quality and habitat improval are environmental issues, not specifically angling issues. Much of what remains (help and advice to commercial fisheries and clubs) should probably be done by the private sector. Promoting angling should not be a function of the EA. It arguably isn't even a legitimate function of government, but if it is, it's within the remit of the department for culture, media and sport, not the environment agency.

[Alan Fawcett]

Is it? As I understood it an EA bailiff is required to show you his official identification before he can ask you to show your rod licence.....I could be wrong though.

 

Paul,

 

The way it was explained to me ANY angler holding a valid rod licence can ask to see the rod licence of anyone fishing.

[GlennB]

...... as for fishing the rivers during the closed season.i do it and will freely admit i do because the way i'm understanding it there is no law saying you cannot fish a river during the closed season.

 

...... I'll just stick with being a pain in the ass and asking anyone i see if they've got a rod licence..after all it is my legal entitlement to do it.

 

Alan, maybe it's just me but I find these two quotes from the same post strangely contradictory (in spirit at least).

[GlennB]

Paul,

 

The way it was explained to me ANY angler holding a valid rod licence can ask to see the rod licence of anyone fishing.

 

True, it's in the small print on your licence. You have to show your own licence first though.