Friday, 20 April 2012
Dates Announced for National Fishing Month 2012
A note from the Angling Trust and Angling Trades Association
"National Fishing Month 20th July to 27th August
Thank you to all the organisers, clubs, coaches and fishery owners who took part and supported last year's National Fishing Month event. If you've never taken part, why not organise an event this year? All the information you need is available HERE.
Last year, the initiative was a resounding success with 330 events taking place, coaching over 15,000 new anglers.
This year's dates are set for 20th July to 27th August.
There is still a limited amount of funding and other support available to organisers to support their events. For Angling Trust/Fish Legal members only, the deadline for applications has been extended until next Wednesday, 25th April. Please download the funding criteria HERE and application form HERE which should be sent to Naidre Werner (naidre@thesourcefor.co.uk). Please mention in the covering note for your application that you are a member of the Angling Trust/Fish Legal.
If you are planning to organise NFM events again this year and are ready to put the dates of your events on now then please go to www.nationalfishingmonth.com/organisers/organiser-registration/ and fill in the details.
Don't worry if you have forgotten your password, just email Naidre Werner from the Angling Trades Association (naidre@thesourcefor.co.uk) or give her a call on 0845 459 9956 and she will help you out. Deadline to fill in your events online and be in time to receive booklets etc. is 1st July.
This year, Dean Macey has agreed to continue as our celebrity endorser and so you will be seeing press releases going out soon to promote NFM. Naidre will be sending these press releases through to you for your own use, but if you would like to add the details of your local newspapers and radio stations etc to her press list, then please send her the details. It's important that we get as much coverage as possible for NFM.
The Angling Trades Association will be sending out your Participation Forms, Get into Fishing Booklets, Manuals, Certificates and prizes for raffles with NFM carrier bags. Where possible, there will be items of tackle from the trade to send out too, but if you would like something specific, please would you let Naidre know as soon as possible so that she can make specific requests to ATA members.
Naidre will be keeping all registered organisers up to date with what is happening on a regular basis - please contact her if you have any questions.
All best wishes from everyone at the Angling Trust and Angling Trades Association.
Angling for Scouts
The Angling Trust is launching a new initiative to encourage more scouts to try fishing and get their angling badge by teaming up with its member clubs and fisheries to provide coaching to scout troops."
Monday, 9 April 2012
Another announcement from Rampion
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SEA USERS
Offshore Met Mast installation at the Proposed Rampion Wind Farm Site - Updated Mobilisation now Fri 6th April
Due to lack of suitable weather window this week, the mobilisation to install the Rampion Met Mast was delayed. The current plan is to mobilise tomorrow, 6th April. We are still aiming to complete the installation by 16th April, subject to suitable weather conditions.
Background
E.ON is seeking to develop the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm located between 13km and 23km off the Sussex coast. The site will help satisfy the UK’s need for renewable power and we estimate the site could generate more than 2,100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity each year, enough electricity for the domestic needs of more than two thirds of the homes in the whole of Sussex.
As part of the development of the wind farm, a Meteorological Mast will be installed at the following location WGS84 50 41' 16.891"N, 00 20' 36.191"W. The operation will take place from a jack-up barge and is likely to be completed and commissioned by 16th April.
For safety reasons during the construction there will be an exclusion zone of 500m, temporarily extended to 2,000m during the piling operation which will be patrolled by guard boats and expected to be 1 – 3 hours in duration.
We are communicating this notice to all marine stakeholder contacts we have identified in the area. A Notice To Mariners has been issued by our contract Fugro Seacore and warnings will be broadcast by the Coastguard during the period of piling and construction activity.
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Sea Angling 2012: New online surveys launched
A new online survey is being launched in April for sea anglers to contribute to Sea Angling 2012, the largest survey yet of sea angling activity, catches and economic value in England.
All sea anglers who fish from the shore or boats - beginners and experts alike - are invited to participate in the survey, and have a chance to win fishing tackle prizes. Simply click on the project website www.seaangling2012.org.uk and follow the links.
The survey will ask about the number of days anglers fished in different regions, and about the species that were caught. It will also ask how the quality of sea angling has changed over the years.
This first online survey is specifically covering the period January to March 2012, and further surveys will go online in July, October and the following January to cover the rest of 2012.
This is one of several surveys comprising Sea Angling 2012 - information is being collected directly from anglers during their fishing trips all round the coast, and an online survey is also available now on the Sea Angling 2012 website for sea anglers to tell us how much they spend on sea angling and the other benefits they get from the sport. The economic survey is being run by the social research co-operative Substance in collaboration with Cefas and the Universities of Cardiff and Newcastle.
Anglers contributing to these surveys are in with a chance to win rods, reels and tackle vouchers from Daiwa, Shimano, Go Outdoors and Pure Fishing in our quarterly prize draws - see the project website www.seaangling2012.org.uk for details of the prizes available and how to win them.
The Project Manager, Cefas' Mike Armstrong, said: "We are carrying out these online surveys alongside the direct interviews with anglers to help build up a more complete picture of sea angling activity and its economic and social benefits in England.
"Taking part in the surveys is voluntary," he continued, "but we hope that most anglers will participate as they will see the benefits of having evidence that can give sea angling a bigger voice in the development of marine policy. Even if you are just a beginner, or didn't catch much - we still want to hear from you."
The Sea Angling 2012 project is the biggest-ever survey of the sport in England. The project is being run throughout 2012 by Cefas on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and in collaboration with the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities who are interviewing anglers directly for this project, and by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO).
Sea Angling 2012 aims to improve the scientific understanding of fish stocks off the English coast and to ensure that the needs of sea angling are represented as effectively as possible in future marine policy development.
Friday, 30 March 2012
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SEA USERS From Rampion
Offshore Met Mast at the Proposed Rampion Wind Farm Site - Week Commencing 2nd April 2012
E.ON is seeking to develop the Rampion Offshore Wind Farm located between 13km and 23km off the Sussex coast. The site will help satisfy the UK’s need for renewable power and we estimate the site could generate more than 2,100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity each year, enough electricity for the domestic needs of more than two thirds of the homes in the whole of Sussex.
As part of the development of the wind farm, a Meteorological Mast will be installed from 2nd April onwards at the following location WGS84 50 41' 16.891"N, 00 20' 36.191"W. The operation will take place from a jack-up barge and is likely to be completed and commissioned by 16th April.
For safety reasons during the construction there will be an exclusion zone of 500m, temporarily extended to 2000m during piling operation which will be patrolled by guard boats and expected to be 1 – 3 hours in duration, currently scheduled for Wednesday 4th April.
We are communicating this notice to all marine stakeholder contacts we have identified in the area. A Notice To Mariners has been issued by our contract Fugro Seacore and warnings will be broadcast by the Coastguard during the period of piling and construction activity.
We would be very grateful if you would help us disseminate this message by forwarding it to anyone whom it may concern.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Tomlinson
Development Manager
Rampion Offshore
E.ON Climate & Renewables
01273 603 721
07815 141 008
The "Red Tape Challenge"
I've always thought the idea of Red Tape a bit bogus - a way of making cuts - howver a contact ion the cabinet office has asked me to pass this on to all my angling contacts.
I know many people in the marine community are not keen on the idea of regulation as they see it asa way of controlling and restricting our fishing but we mmust engage witrh these excercices otherwise decisions will be made without our involvement.
The government is looking at how we regulate a range of water and marine-related activities and areas. People may already be aware of this work, but the window for comments closes on 12th April – so speak now!
Of particular interest is Sea Fisheries:
And freshwater fisheries:
But you can also see the whole range:
Minister urged to halt spread of beavers carrying lethal parasites
Recent release from the Angling Trust relating to Beavers in the UK - not exactly Sussex related but interesting points about re introducing so called indigenous species. Beavers are not a natural UK species now, having been wiped out hundreds of years ago and our small island really can't cope with these destructive rodents, (yes they are giant river rats). Now they are potential carriers of disease.
The Angling Trust has today written to Fisheries and Natural Environment Minister Richard Benyon urging him to authorise the trapping and lethal control of beavers to halt their spread into England from Scotland following the failure of the Scottish government to contain populations within a number of trial release sites. This might involve applying to the European Commission for an exemption to the beaver’s European Protected Status to allow them to be controlled and their dams to be dismantled, which has been done in other member states.
Anglers throughout the UK reacted with concern to the announcement that the Scottish Environment Minister, Stewart Stevenson, has blocked the conservation agency Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), from carrying out trapping and euthanasia of hundreds of beavers which have been released into the River Tay catchment. These animals were almost certainly released illegally into the wild by beaver enthusiasts and have already spread throughout Perthshire and Angus and it is only a matter of time before they spread into England and Wales.
Anglers are particularly worried because beavers create dams across streams and rivers which can prevent coarse and game fish migrating up and downstream to complete their lifecycles. Many fish stocks in the UK are already suffering as a result of agricultural and sewage pollution, over-abstraction, weirs and dams and other habitat damage, invasive non-native species, poaching and predation. To make matters worse, beavers may enjoy European Protected Status, which means that they, or the dams they build by felling trees into rivers, cannot be interfered with without a licence. This will prevent anyone removing problem beavers or dams.
There are also grave concerns following the discovery that the Scottish beavers may be carrying Echinococcus multilocularis, a tapeworm that can be transferred to foxes, dogs and people. It causes a number of human fatalities each year in countries in which it is present, which do not currently include the UK. Aveolar echinococcosis can take between 10 and 15 years to be diagnosed, by which time it has caused so much damage to the liver that 90% of patients die. In Switzerland, a far smaller country with far fewer foxes, the human death toll is between 20 and 30 cases a year.
Other concerns about the spread of beavers include the potential for increasing flood risk and the felling of garden and suburban trees. An adult beaver can bring down a 10 inch wide tree in under an hour, and a single beaver family will fell up to 300 trees a year. In the upper Danube region of Germany, beavers have caused £5 million of damage and they are now being culled.
Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust and Fish Legal said: “we believe that the Scottish Government has failed in its duty to protect the whole of the UK by allowing this situation to develop. These illegal releases should never have happened, and when they did, a rapid decision should have been taken to eradicate the animals from the wild. A series of blunders has led us to a situation where beavers might spread throughout the country, damming rivers, blocking access to spawning areas, felling trees and infecting other wildlife and people with lethal tapeworms. We urge the Westminster government to take decisive action urgently to stop beavers spreading into England.”
More from the Angling Trust website www.anglingtrust.net
Judge for yourself - the release reads :
The Angling Trust has today written to Fisheries and Natural Environment Minister Richard Benyon urging him to authorise the trapping and lethal control of beavers to halt their spread into England from Scotland following the failure of the Scottish government to contain populations within a number of trial release sites. This might involve applying to the European Commission for an exemption to the beaver’s European Protected Status to allow them to be controlled and their dams to be dismantled, which has been done in other member states.
Anglers throughout the UK reacted with concern to the announcement that the Scottish Environment Minister, Stewart Stevenson, has blocked the conservation agency Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), from carrying out trapping and euthanasia of hundreds of beavers which have been released into the River Tay catchment. These animals were almost certainly released illegally into the wild by beaver enthusiasts and have already spread throughout Perthshire and Angus and it is only a matter of time before they spread into England and Wales.
Anglers are particularly worried because beavers create dams across streams and rivers which can prevent coarse and game fish migrating up and downstream to complete their lifecycles. Many fish stocks in the UK are already suffering as a result of agricultural and sewage pollution, over-abstraction, weirs and dams and other habitat damage, invasive non-native species, poaching and predation. To make matters worse, beavers may enjoy European Protected Status, which means that they, or the dams they build by felling trees into rivers, cannot be interfered with without a licence. This will prevent anyone removing problem beavers or dams.
There are also grave concerns following the discovery that the Scottish beavers may be carrying Echinococcus multilocularis, a tapeworm that can be transferred to foxes, dogs and people. It causes a number of human fatalities each year in countries in which it is present, which do not currently include the UK. Aveolar echinococcosis can take between 10 and 15 years to be diagnosed, by which time it has caused so much damage to the liver that 90% of patients die. In Switzerland, a far smaller country with far fewer foxes, the human death toll is between 20 and 30 cases a year.
Other concerns about the spread of beavers include the potential for increasing flood risk and the felling of garden and suburban trees. An adult beaver can bring down a 10 inch wide tree in under an hour, and a single beaver family will fell up to 300 trees a year. In the upper Danube region of Germany, beavers have caused £5 million of damage and they are now being culled.
Mark Lloyd, Chief Executive of the Angling Trust and Fish Legal said: “we believe that the Scottish Government has failed in its duty to protect the whole of the UK by allowing this situation to develop. These illegal releases should never have happened, and when they did, a rapid decision should have been taken to eradicate the animals from the wild. A series of blunders has led us to a situation where beavers might spread throughout the country, damming rivers, blocking access to spawning areas, felling trees and infecting other wildlife and people with lethal tapeworms. We urge the Westminster government to take decisive action urgently to stop beavers spreading into England.”
More from the Angling Trust website www.anglingtrust.net
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