North East Anglers Meeting With DEFRA – Notes From The Meeting

Hi Everyone,

You will recall that at the meeting with DEFRA at Scarborough we asked for your e-mail addresses in order to send you some notes on the process of the meeting. There are a number of reasons why these were never distributed but mainly that the two recordings were never married up so that a more concise picture could be obtained. There were some gaps on one of the recording which had occurred due to the proximity of the second recorder. So rather than leave you with nothing as a reference I am attaching the points  that DEFRA identified as being  points for future reference at subsequent meetings. I hope you will find these usefull. If I can assist further please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards
S Mac

Points made at the Scarborough RSA Strategy Meeting.

Scarborough Angling Social Club, 10-3-08.

1. The need to ensure future consultations are more widely advertised was raised. It was strongly suggested that the RSA magazines were widely read and should be used to advertise this or similar consultations, and that tackle shops were ideally positioned to disseminate information. 
2. Very considerable concern was expressed over the licensing issue. In particular, charter boat skippers and the tackle trade were concerned about the threat to the casual/holiday angling trade because it was thought that these anglers would be unlikely to want to purchase a license, and therefore wouldn’t go angling. The Portuguese experience was also raised as being of significant concern, and tackle shop representatives commented that it would be impossible to continue trading if similar declines in angler numbers resulted.
3. Concern was expressed over the ability for the SFCs to bring RSA issues forward. Although there are now RSA representatives on each SFC, the general perception was that the Committees were dominated by commercial interests. The North Eastern Committee’s RSA Sub Committee was acknowledged to provide an effective means for RSA issues to be addressed, but it was hoped that RSA representation on SFCs would be improved through the Marine Act.
4. Concern was expressed that the byelaw proposed to limit the bass fishery off the NESFC coast had not yet been accepted within Defra. It was asked that this was progressed as soon as possible.
5. Concern was expressed about the commercial targeting of pre-spawning or spawning fish (linked to the December Fisheries Council meeting and the release of quota following those negotiations, when fish were entering the spawning period). Considerable support was expressed for the introduction of measures which would protect those fish until after spawning (e.g. Delay of the quota negotiations or spawning area protection).
6. Although there appeared to be general support for the Strategy aims, there was considerable concern about the lack of detail. Translating the high level aspirations in the Strategy into action on the ground would be a key issue in future, and one in which local anglers would want to play a significant role.
7. Significant discussion was held on the issue of what could be done through the Strategy in the North East. A significant number present thought that angling in the area was good and that nothing needed to be done. Recent catches had been good , with good quality fish showing, although not in high numbers.
8. Cod was highlighted as the key species in the North East, but flounder, dab, thornback rays, porbeagle, and bass were mentioned as being of importance, or of potential importance if the right measures were put in place. 
9. Norway and Iceland were highlighted as having excellent RSA opportunities- it was suggested that lessons could be learnt from these areas.
10. The Data Collection Regulation requirements for gathering data on angling catches of cod were highlighted. Concern was expressed over the apparent estimates provided for angling catches in comparison to commercial landings in two other EU countries. Anglers wanted to be consulted when DCR data were being collected for England.
11. Some discussion was held on bag limits. The major concern expressed was that bag limits would be problematic for the charter vessel operators, where anglers would want to keep what they caught.  
12. Issues of seals eating fish were raised.

Coastal Waters Policy

FIMD, Defra

March 2008