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Sea Angling Licence - At What Cost?
The Government White Paper
Over the past few years I have had many anglers and charter skippers ask for my views on a sea angling licence, and to be honest I have had mixed feelings, as I could see the pros and cons of the whole debate.
However, I am now of the firm belief that the plus side of a sea angling licence will never, ever happen. Why? Well the Government has only recently had us believe that it would make anglers lives better by increasing the bass minimum size limit to safeguard future stocks. Great, or so we thought! As after just a few months of the proposal the Government decided on a U-turn and decided NOT to increase the minimum size afterall... It was all very saddening, but in reality it was all probably due to the fact that more commercial fishermen actually bothered to complain about the proposals, as opposet to the sea anglers fighting for the increase.
I can't blame anyone, if someone says they are going to give you something you never had it's easy to sit back and wait for things to happen - you expect it to happen. BUT, tell someone you are taking something away from them and we tend to make a fight of it, as we have every right to. Which is why the commercial fishermen have won this round - as I see it.
The Government has now published the Recreational Sea Angling consultation white paper, which contains everything what we expected, from the Drew Report to the idea of a Sea Angling Licence and full of wording that sounds as though a Sea Angling Licence is going to be the next best thing for our sport.
It's easy to feel lured into it, by the promise of bigger and better fish, better management etc etc. In fact, everything that we want. But how can we believe the promises of the Government after its U-turn on the bass MLS? I for one don't believ a word of it!
Interestingly, it also states that: ‘All fisheries stakeholders have a responsibility to share the cost of science and fisheries management’ and ‘A sea angling licence (operating in a similar way to the freshwater angling licence) could meet these needs.’
I have no objection paying for these, but what I do object to is paying for reliable scientific information that isn't even listened too and fisheries management that isn't managed correctly. Obviously, the Government has realised how much money the 1.1million anglers spend in this country and they simply want a slice of that cake.
Now I don’t want to rant and rave too much on this subject as I am sure many of you have your own views, but my one question is, why should we be paying for something that is in serious decline, and has been for decades, when the Government could have done something about this years ago? It's not as if we can restock the sea like it's a reservoir or pond! The sea needs time, time to recover, and until I see signs of that happening then and only then will I even consider the prospect of implimenting a Sea Angling Licence.
However, having this view is one thing, doing something about it is yet another. The biggest mistake we can do now is ignore this white paper. It’s all too easy for the majority of us to leave it to others to sort out, like the bigger bodies such as the NFSA, fishing clubs, etc. But they will never be enough and they may not even be of the same view - as some people do see the licence as a good idea. Also, if only a few hundred people, maybe even a few thousand people, object to the proposal then the Government could well see that as still being a minority vote and think that the majority of the 1.1million anglers are actually FOR the licence. Not a good prospect!
You don’t have to be a writer, or be able to understand all the Government jargon to make a difference. A short letter outlining your objection(s) will suffice. It’s all about numbers here and the more that write or email their thoughts to the Government could make a big difference to what future angling will cost you!
Below is the link to the white paper, it’s worth a read… You have until the 31st March to respond. So make it quick guys, don’t make it one of those things you’ll do next week - do it now!
http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/sea-angling/consultation.pdf
Tight Lines
Daz
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