Fisheries Liaison Representative for The National Federation of Sea Anglers & European Liaison Officer of The Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society.

In the last issue of "Get Hooked", I outlined the problems facing the recreational sport fishing industry because of the traditional mindset that fish stock resources are exclusively for commercial exploitation, and as such the entire management process both nationally and at European level has sought to manage from a commercial exploitation perspective only. The appalling degradation of the commonly owned fish stocks (described by the United Nations as one of 'humanities natural heritage') shows clearly and unequivocally how this approach has failed.

The resources themselves have been sacrificed for the short term benefit of the commercial fishing industry who are now suffering the consequences. Unfortunately, the recreational sector who also support thousands of livelihoods are also suffering the consequences. The resources should have been and must become the priority. This is the only way that the long term harvesting of resources will be achieved. I pointed out that in other parts of the globe the sport angling industry was perceived as being socially and economically important enough for some fish stock species to be managed either primarily or in some cases exclusively as 'sport fish'. During the spring of 1999, MAFF civil servants clearly stated that they had no responsibility for sport angling. Now, in late September 2000, MAFF is singing an entirely different tune and claims to have responsibility for recreational sea angling matters! Why the change of heart?

Clearly, political pressure from MPs, MEPs, the Recreational Angling Conference at Aston, are all beginning to focus the need for some serious and innovative alterations to traditional mindsets. However, being a sceptic I believe there is one single factor that is concentrating the minds of senior MAFF civil servants more than any other, and that is the assertion that the management of some fish stocks should be contributed to, by other government departments such as Tourism and Sport. The notion that specific fish stocks can generate significant socio-economic benefits as sport fish is overwhelmingly supported by some of MAFF's own research, and many examples around the globe. By far the biggest beneficiary to a healthy, robust sport angling industry is tourism, which is a seriously large industry with immense political clout. The suggestion that both the Minister for Tourism and the Minister for Sport should become more involved in the decision making process about what happens to fish stocks is, I believe, bringing about abject panic amongst senior MAFF civil servants, and in an attempt to protect their territory, their response to the growing suggestion that they will no longer have exclusive control over fish stocks, they have now accepted responsibility for sea angling matters.

The National Assembly for Wales commissioned Nautilus Consultants Limited to produce a study into inland and sea fisheries in Wales. Nautilus Consultants Limited are well respected and regularly used by the European Union for similar work. Their findings are wholly supportive of the arguments that the proponents of sport angling have been proffering for many years. Nautilus concluded, amongst other things, that the gross economic impact of salt water sport angling was £28 million in Wales, dwarfing the impact of commercial fishing. Bearing in mind that salt water sport anglers have no direct interest in a great many species (including shellfish), then those specific resources that are being targeted by sport anglers are clearly generating far more economic value, utilised as sport fish. Nautilus identifies the degradation of fish stock resources from commercial overfishing as being one of the serious threats to the potential to develop the sport angling industry and most pointedly points out that the beneficiaries for development of the recreational sector are tourism, tourism, and yes tourism. The pace of change is for me painfully slow, but undeniably traditional cultural mindsets are in the process of being altered, and they must be altered very much more if saltwater sport angling is to achieve the status that it needs in order to develop.

There is much work to be done by anglers. Sea anglers should identify any organisation which is seen to be active in the political field lobbying for angling and support them by joining. At the very least, all sea anglers should subscribe to the governing body (National Federation of Sea Anglers) as personal members and when sending in their membership, write a letter outlining their main concerns so that the federation can respond to member's wishes. Better still, if an angler feels they would like to contribute some of their time to sea angling in areas such as Education, Conservation, Political Lobbying etc, write to the federation.

National Federation of Sea Anglers, 51A Queen Street, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 2QJ

Bass Anglers Sportfishing Society, 18 Highfields Close, Stoke Gifford, Bristol, BS34 6YA Visit: www.ukbass.com

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