North East Marine Conservation Zones – Your Chance To Have A Say
News Wednesday, May 6th, 2009Press release on behalf of the Northern Federation of Sea Angling Societies and the angling Trust
After a useful meeting with Natural England in Newcastle, attended by myself, Alan Charlton of the Northern Federation of Sea Angling Societies, Stuart McPherson and Sam Harris of the Angling Trust, it has been decided to hold two meetings with anglers to discuss the current situation with the Marine Bill and Marine Conservation Zones. One meeting will be held on the 10th June at the Scarborough angling club in Scarborough at 7.30pm. The second meeting will be in Newcastle at the Ouseburn Centre on 11th June at 7.30pm.
This is not part of the formal MCZ consultation, but is an opportunity to dispel rumours and deal with the facts as they stand so far. Questions that cannot be answered will be taken forward into the MCZ process. So, come along and have your say, but keep it polite!!
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Thankfully we have now been given the opportunity to meet with Natural England about the proposal of marine conservation zones for the north east coastline. A big thanks goes to Alan Charlton who I know has pushed strongly for these meetings and has kept the pressure on Natural England since we first learnt of their proposals to research and implement MCZ in the region. It is also noted that Stuart Mcpherson the new head on the marine sector of the Angling Trust has played a role in getting these meetings organised for us.
I am sure we will all have lots of questions to ask the Natural England (NE) representatives when they come onto our patch. Personally I fear what NE may have in store for us. So far they have been rather sneaky and kept us all in the dark about their proposals for our region. They even went as far as undertaking a research project in the region without making clear the purpose of the research to the numerous anglers who filled out the CEFAS questionnaires which were handed out through the regions tackle shops in early December 2009.
My main concerns revolve around closure of some of our best shore and boat/kayak angling areas. I am also concerned that NE may also wish to close off some of the regions bait collecting areas causing displacement of bait collectors into other areas in search of the bait they require to continue fishing.
Hopefully we can persuade NE not to close off the areas that mean so much to so many of us. This meeting is your/ours opportunity to make our thoughts known. I hope a few of you will take the time to attend these very important meetings.