Sea Fishing Licences

[Portland Pirate]

Originally Posted by tonybolton

Indeed I have to pinch myself every day to check i'm not dreaming. Superb economic growth, high levels of disposable income, plenty of work, free health care for all etc etc etc.

Scotland has all that plus prescriptions are free. Even better the fishing is much cheaper and you don't have to pay for a rod licence. Only problem is it's too bl***y cold and wet.

[philipn]

just a couple of ideas for the politicians how about a licence for going to the match,the gym,work, the shop,getting born,dont stop on sea fishing theres money to be made here

[philipn]

what do all you members in other countries think of our petty squables with our politicians?

[pingu]

government have backed down on this issue toady due to NFSA pressure

dave

[meolsman]

Hopefully that will be the end of it.

[Greenheart]

Originally Posted by pingu

government have backed down on this issue toady due to NFSA pressure

dave

Where did you hear that Dave?

[pingu]

Originally Posted by Greenheart

Where did you hear that Dave?

was a press release passed on, will try to find

[Greenheart]

Just got this from the countryside alliance....

On Tuesday, Defra Minister Jonathan Shaw announced that, following months of consultation, plans to introduce sea-angling licences would not be pursued. The decision was announced following a Parliamentary Question from Martin Salter MP, spokesman for fishing and supporter of the sea angling licence proposal.

The Countryside Alliance has campaigned against the proposals for sea-angling licences since they were first introduced under the Marine Bill. The idea that sea anglers, alone amongst all coastal users, should fund the upkeep of coastal car parks (amongst many other plans) was clearly nonsense; at the time we branded the proposals "unenforceable, bureaucratic and with no obvious benefit to the recreational sea angler" and that view appears to have been accepted by our political masters.

The Government's decision to drop the proposal in the face of mass opposition is a victory for the entire angling community. Sea-angling licences always threatened to be just another layer of bureaucracy. Once the administration of the licence had been paid for, conservation of fish stocks would have received precious little funding. After all, how was the upkeep of coastal car parks ever going to boost fish stocks? We always felt the licence would have been unenforceable around our thousands of miles of coastline. The future of fish stocks around UK shores will depend on proper management of commercial fisheries, not charging anglers to fish in the sea whilst spending the income on more besides. Muddling the relationship between marine conservation and tourism is a dangerous path to tread. Inshore angling licences are ring-fenced to aid conservation and are a successful story of which the Environment Agency can be proud. Ring-fencing sea angling licence revenues was not touted as an option, leading us to believe that sea-angling would be taxed merely because it was possible and not because it was fair or sensible.

There are over 2,500 miles of coastline around England and Wales, and the notion that the coast could be policed, and licences enforced, is ludicrous. After all, the sea angling industry is already worth £538 million to the economy - let's not make sea anglers pay more than their already huge contribution to the health of the rural economy.

Throughout the ongoing consultation the Alliance has fought against these proposals, and we are gratified on behalf of the sea angling community that the Government has listened to the concerns of sea anglers everywhere and opted for reason over recklessness.

Simon Hart
Chief Executive