RSA Strategy Consultation Launched

[barry luxton]

Totally beyond me why you continue to put this nonsense up as if its some kind of arguement . Its so far from the reality that i've lived that its totally alien. Perhaps others understand it better and can point out my sheer stupidity. What utopian planet are these guys from and think they are living in?

 

And you reckon that copying and pasting this stuff into an angling forum will make a ton of anglers get "onside". Lmao

 

I was going to paste that one up. So is this report all bullshine then. If it is a lot of taxpayers money has gone into it for a bit of waste paper? Don't think so. Just another indication from yet another source as to the state of the whole fishing industry, and the stocks. Backs up the comment from elsewere of 44,000 tonnes of unrecorded removals from the north sea.

[glennk]

I've seen no evidence to suggest that the SACN make claims to represent anyone outside that organisation. I'm not sure the same can be said about the self-aggrandizing NFSA.

 

No you wont have any evidence because they wont show it to you. Maybe you could ask the SACN for a copy of their recent presentation to Parliament. Maybe they could post it here ?

Edited December 12, 2007 by glennk

[Cranfield]

Its on the SACN website;

 

"This week SACN's Leon Roskilly was asked to deliver a presentation to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Marine and Coast Issues on the Marine Bill Proposals.

 

The meeting, attended by MPs and addressed by the Fisheries Minister Jonathan Shaw, took place in the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday.

 

Leon made the point that nature intended our seas to be teeming with fish, and the fact that they are not is not as a result of some natural disaster but the cumulative effect of years of poor management, laying much of the blame at the door of DEFRA.

 

However, Leon also pointed out that the situation could be changed with the Marine Bill creating institutions with the mission, the resources and the powers to deliver a restored marine environment that we would all be proud to hand to future generations.

 

Leon also welcomed the proposed root and branch reform of Sea Fisheries committees, emphasising their primary role as custodians of the marine environment for the benefit of all stakeholders, and putting the health of the marine resources before all other considerations.

 

On Marine Protected Areas, Leon highlighted concerns over displacement of effort, particularly if large areas were closed, leaving the same number of boats seeking to supply the same number of fish from the reduced open areas.

 

He also warned of the dangers of excluding anglers from closed areas simply on the basis of dogma, and emphasised the need for consultation.

 

With regard to licensing of sea anglers, Leon forcefully advised that, in the light of the recent bass mls decision, this proposal should now be dropped until DEFRA have proven that they are willing and able to deliver tangible benefits to those expected to pay.

 

On bag limits Leon said that these would only be acceptable as a necessary conservation package applied proportionately to all those who take fish, and never simply to preserve the catches and markets of others.

 

And finally on the regulation of bait collection he pointed out that this would also involve a responsibility on the regulators to ensure adequate access to well maintained and sustainable supplies, much as SFCs currently manage and maintain cockle beds for commercial exploitation. "

[steve good]

Its on the SACN website;

 

"This week SACN's Leon Roskilly was asked to deliver a presentation to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Marine and Coast Issues on the Marine Bill Proposals.

 

The meeting, attended by MPs and addressed by the Fisheries Minister Jonathan Shaw, took place in the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday.

 

Leon made the point that nature intended our seas to be teeming with fish, and the fact that they are not is not as a result of some natural disaster but the cumulative effect of years of poor management, laying much of the blame at the door of DEFRA.

 

However, Leon also pointed out that the situation could be changed with the Marine Bill creating institutions with the mission, the resources and the powers to deliver a restored marine environment that we would all be proud to hand to future generations.

 

Leon also welcomed the proposed root and branch reform of Sea Fisheries committees, emphasising their primary role as custodians of the marine environment for the benefit of all stakeholders, and putting the health of the marine resources before all other considerations.

 

On Marine Protected Areas, Leon highlighted concerns over displacement of effort, particularly if large areas were closed, leaving the same number of boats seeking to supply the same number of fish from the reduced open areas.

 

He also warned of the dangers of excluding anglers from closed areas simply on the basis of dogma, and emphasised the need for consultation.

 

With regard to licensing of sea anglers, Leon forcefully advised that, in the light of the recent bass mls decision, this proposal should now be dropped until DEFRA have proven that they are willing and able to deliver tangible benefits to those expected to pay.

 

On bag limits Leon said that these would only be acceptable as a necessary conservation package applied proportionately to all those who take fish, and never simply to preserve the catches and markets of others.

 

And finally on the regulation of bait collection he pointed out that this would also involve a responsibility on the regulators to ensure adequate access to well maintained and sustainable supplies, much as SFCs currently manage and maintain cockle beds for commercial exploitation. "

 

Hi Cranfield

 

Did Leon tell them how many of the millions of anglers he represents and how many tons of fish anglers catch and keep when commercials have to throw them back

 

Anglers fish unrestricted and uncontrolled seems to me that anglers are going to get stuffed with bag limits because angler reps which represent less than 1% of all anglers have their own agenda

 

steve

[H.A.]

Hey Steve

 

got any copies of that 'agenda'???

 

Perhaps if you could circulate it, a few more RSAs might support it???

 

[steve pitts]

There seems to be a mis-conception that those 'un-elected' RSA reps are asking Government for licences and restrictions.

 

Since long before Defra were MAFF, the men in suits have been trying to introduce a licencing system for sea anglers. We all know that this is an exercise in increasing revenue i.e a tax.

More recently, they tried to introduce bag limits via SFCs and failed.

 

The only reason we haven't got an RSA licence and bag limits HERE and NOW is because some anglers take the time and effort to sit on SFCs and lobby MPs and defend our historic rights. They put forward a strong defence against such limitations through reasoned argument and presentation of well-researched facts. They do this in their own time and often with no financial support from their fellow anglers or the trade.

 

I can understand how these mis-conceptions arrise, as few anglers bother to read the proposals fully, engage in conservation and politics section of fora such as this, or turn up at meetings held by Defra, or attend their local SFC meetings - they just want to go fishing after all.

 

Here is an ideal opportunity for sea anglers to unite and respond to this latest consultation in a way that could tell Government emphatically that we won't accept licences, we don't want arbitary bag limits without good reason, we don't want more bogs and changing facilities or instruction booklets on hook sizes.

 

Tell them we want more and bigger fish (back) and ask them how they are going to do it and when.

 

Cheers

Steve

[bobdurauntti]

Hi Cranfield

 

Did Leon tell them how many of the millions of anglers he represents and how many tons of fish anglers catch and keep when commercials have to throw them back

 

Anglers fish unrestricted and uncontrolled seems to me that anglers are going to get stuffed with bag limits because angler reps which represent less than 1% of all anglers have their own agenda

 

steve

 

Wow thats an insight, 'Commercial fishermen in claims that angling reps want a rod licence and bag limits shocker'.

 

If your going to stir the sheet and retain any credibility, best that you have no track record of proposing such restrictions yourself.

 

Like many fishermen in both sectors, your usual round of verbal diahorrea, does nothing to reconcile the fact that yours and our reps will need to sit down TOGETHER to find a way to defend ourselves against the greens and the government Tax collectors.

 

So can I suggest that you go and play with your oysters, and leave issues such as these to those who know what they are talking about and indeed have some experience of the matters in hand. Childish playground banter and petty points scoring is what I'd expect from someone of your obvious low intelligence, and I and the majority of the intelligent angling population prefer to make our own conclusions based on fact, not the ramblings of a biased opponent of sea angling.

[barry luxton]

Like many fishermen in both sectors, your usual round of verbal diahorrea, does nothing to reconcile the fact that yours and our reps will need to sit down TOGETHER to find a way to defend ourselves against the greens and the government Tax collectors.

Slight problem with that at the mo, Mr Deas, before the bass issue was 'sorted' told all that the rsa and commercial need to form a working party with others, after the decision, nothing......

[ColinW]

Did Leon tell them how many of the millions of anglers he represents and how many tons of fish anglers catch and keep when commercials have to throw them back

 

If you added together every fish caught by every angler in the country over a whole year it probably wouldn't amount to what is caught by a single successful tow of a pair trawl. (Yes I can produce photos if you really need to see them again.) So how many men work on those two boats, twelve? Twelve men seem to have some god-given right to more fish in half a day than a million of us have over a whole year?

Please explain why.

 

The owners having million pound bank loans to pay off doesn't seem a good reason to me. How would the general public react if I spent a million pounds on a machine that caught every songbird that flies in the sky and justified it on the grounds that "I'm not doing anything illegal, I've got bills to pay."

[barry luxton]

If you added together every fish caught by every angler in the country over a whole year it probably wouldn't amount to what is caught by a single successful tow of a pair trawl. (Yes I can produce photos if you really need to see them again.)

Please explain why.

Goverment figure kicking around is the total catch by rsa equalls 1.4% of the commercial take. If you put this figure to defra they would not deny it.