[Doc]

Great to see Mark and Paul at the meeting, many thanks to you both for coming down on the night as the sole representatives of NESA (out of how many members now TC). I must admit, I was extremely disappointed with the turn out, less than 20 attendees in total and just 2 from NESA.

As Mark says in his post much of the discussion centred around species such as Bass and Tope, which anglers here in the north east probably consider as southern species, which they are no longer, but over the next couple of days I will post a new thread on what the current status of these species is in the NE.

I fully appreciate that historically cod has and still is king in the NE, its the same along the Yorkshire coast (my neck of the woods), although this situation is changing slowly. In defence of the NFSA we haven\'t got a hope in hell of getting a species such as the cod designated as a recreational species, all we can do is work within the framework available to us to ensure that fisheries regulation take account not just of the commercial sector, but also of the recreational angler. The major problem with cod is that any recovery is not going to happen overnight, reduction of fishing effort will not in itself lead to wholesale recovery within a year. There are many other mitigating factors which have to be accounted for, and unfortunately some of these are totally outside our (mans) control. What is required are the optimal environmental conditions, in conjunction with a well conditioned stock (not necessarily a large stock), just a healthy well fed stock, and given this situation a strong year class should be the result. The real driver now, in the event that a strong year class emerges, is that fishing effort is reduced accordingly to allow that year class to move through successive year classes to an optimal spawning age. The rest is purely mathematics, a healthy SSB gives rise to a large SSB and as a consequence a sustainable fishery for all.

We are moving in the right direction, fishing effort is down significantly, technical conservation measures are in place and are continually being developed further, and along the English north and east coast there is at last some indication of a relatively strong 1st year class coming through. So it is not all doom and gloom, however, to enable anglers to continue the dialogue with government, we need to have a representative body that is able to put forward a coherent argument, based on scientific fact, and both ecological and economic sense. There is no other body in a position to do this at present, and therefore the NFSA are the lead partner in this discussion with the UK government. The problem is that due to a low membership the funds are so stretched that those representing the 1 million sea anglers in England and Wales are paying for this representation out of their own pockets. Whilst the greater majority of sea anglers won’t pay the £15 or so membership fee to the NFSA, a small dedicated group are paying in excess of £1,500 per annum each to represent Recreational sea angling to ensure that ALL anglers interests are taken into account, not just those in the ‘south’..

The NFSA needs a healthy membership to represent the views of all, it needs a healthy membership in order to play an important role in fisheries management and to take angling forward to a point by which we can enjoy our sport in the knowledge that in years to come we will still be able to catch bigger and better fish of all species, not just the odd whiting or rockling.

Talk is cheap, strong action and proportionate representation requires funding, and that funding is not currently available. So if you are not prepared to support those who are working to better the sea angling experience, please don’t complain about the lack of fish or the poor quality of fish in your area. We can only continue to self finance the 1 million or so anglers from our own pockets for so long, its then down to you or not, which ever the case may be.

By the way, the big chap who had a ‘meaningful dialogue’ with Sam Harris was Ex copper Frank Nesbitt.

Finally, as the sea angling representative on the North Eastern Sea Fisheries Committee, I am always willing to take forward to the committee any relevant issues that affects RSA within the District (River Tyne to Donna Nook), so please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any specific concerns or issues that require action.

Perhaps TC could set up a specific forum for this and for me to post items that affect or may be of interest to local and regional anglers.

Cheers