ACA email newsletters (inc Angling Unity Information)
Email updates (inc Angling Unity information)
18 August 2008
Two tragic pollutions on the River Wye have been reported in the past couple of weeks. The first of these occurred on an upper river tributary, the Rhyd Hir Brook, and caused the death of nearly 1,000 juvenile salmon and trout. Meanwhile, lower down the system, more than 20,000 fish were killed in a 10km stretch of the river Trothy, a tributary that enters the Wye below Monmouth, including bullhead, brown trout, minnow, lamprey and eel. The Environment Agency has been carrying out investigations and has yet to release any findings, but at this stage the finger of suspicion is pointing at agricultural pollution in both cases. The ACA is waiting to hear the results.
In other news, the ACA is acting for three clubs following the chemical pollution of the River Ellen in Cumbria at the end of June which killed over 4,000 fish. The Agency has identified the polluter but cannot disclose details until their investigations are complete. This pollution has been especially distressing for the River Ellen Angling Club, who bought their stretch of water with the proceeds from an ACA civil claim for a previous milk pollution.
We are also looking into the use of alpha-cypermethrin and cypermethrin chemicals - similar to those used in sheep dip - in forestry. Information requests have been made to the Pesticides Safety Directorate and to the EA to gather eco-toxicology reports and details of any specific, acute pollution incidents.
On Wednesday last week, the ACA attended a meeting with the Environment Agency and representatives from the Brennand and Whitendale Focus Group in Preston, Lancashire, to look at why, after 8 years of consultation and planning, a scheme to alleviate the over-abstraction of two rivers in the upper Ribble catchment had been shelved at the 11th hour. Both the Brennand and Whitendale are important salmonid spawning and nursery rivers, which have been reduced to stagnant pools during drier months as a result of the over-abstraction, leaving thousands of fry, parr and smolts stranded. The River Dunsop, which forms after the Brennand and Whitendale converge, also is adversely affected by the over-abstraction. Plans for moderation of the abstraction have been developed in great detail over the past 8 years by the water company (United Utilities) with the help of a very patient focus group mainly comprising representatives of local riparian owners, anglers and other interested parties. It seems that the government has not made the funds available to the Agency to pay the necessary compensation to water companies for taking less water to protect the environment. This example calls into question the effectiveness of the Agency's 'Restoring Sustainable Abstraction' programme and whether the Water Framework Directive can realistically be implemented. The ACA is now looking into what legal options are available and will be campaigning for a reversal of this decision.
On a happier note, our sincere thanks to all who took part in our 60th Anniversary Auction: to the kind donors of lots and to those who bid so generously for them. We managed to raise more than £11,000 for the fighting fund.
Best wishes from the ACA.
[NB - if you prefer, you can arrange to receive a copy of this email newsletter direct, by visiting the ACA website]
22 July 2008
CLA Game Fair - Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire
We are very much looking forward to this year's Game Fair, which starts this Friday (25th July) at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. Please do drop by the ACA stand if there's anything you would like to discuss, we would be delighted to see you. We will also be holding a party on Friday evening (5-7pm) at the House of Fishing tent to celebrate our 60th Anniversary. ACA members only, non-members can join on the door!
Pollution News
Regretfully, three serious pollution incidents have been brought to our attention in the past couple of weeks. In Cumbria, more than 4,000 fish were killed in the River Ellen when a cloudy substance appeared in the river near Bullgill. The Environment Agency have identified the source of the pollution but will not reveal the identity until their investigations are complete.
Meanwhile, in Somerset, another pollution incident has reportedly killed the entire fish population (mostly brown trout and bullheads) of a four mile stretch of the River Pill, near Minehead. Agency staff have been taking water samples and recovering dead fish. Although the pollutant is still unconfirmed, it is thought to be a chemical such as pesticide or sheep dip.
The ACA will be keeping a close eye on developments in both of these sad incidents, along with reports of a pollution on the River Don at Deepcar, South Yorkshire, believed to be coming from the development of an old industrial site and involving minewater discharges.
ACA 60th Anniversary Auction
There are still a few lots left to bid for in our auction (now extended to the 30 July), including some wonderful fishing tackle. Please remember that any bid received that meets or exceeds the Guide Price will win the lot immediately (except for Lot EL.8). Please see ACA website for the catalogue and order form. Every pound we can raise from the auction will go towards helping the fight against those responsible for pollution incidents like those reported above.
Best wishes from everyone at the ACA.
[NB - if you prefer, you can arrange to receive a copy of this email newsletter direct, by visiting the ACA website]
11 July 2008
Legal News
We are happy to report that two more cases have been successfully settled since our last news update. In Northern Ireland, the insurers of a construction company have agreed to pay damages to the The Threemile Water Conservation and Angling Association, following a pollution incident at Newtonabbey in County Antrim. In January 2006, O'Hare & McGovern Construction Ltd allowed oil from a tank to escape into the Threemile Water, an important trout, sea trout and salmon river, while working on a nearby school. The pollution caused a substantial kill of aquatic invertebrates. The fishing club, which had worked hard on improving the river's habitat in recent years, asked the ACA to act after their catch returns dropped significantly following the incident.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) investigated the incident at the time and sent a warning letter to the company, charging them a paltry £29.92 for their costs of installing a boom to contain the oil. For a long period the NIEA would not confirm the identity of the Defendant until the ACA threatened to complain to the Information Commissioner. In May 2007, a year after the ACA's initial request, the NIEA finally confirmed the polluter's identity and provided us with the long awaited case-file.
Meanwhile, in Gloucestershire, Severn Trent Water has agreed to pay Lydney and District Angling Club £18,500 in damages following a discharge of sewage into the Lydney Canal from one of their pumping stations in October 2006. The pollution caused a substantial coarse fish kill, including carp, roach, rudd, bream, dace, perch, chub pike and tench and the ACA prepared the compensation claim for the club. Severn Trent was also successfully prosecuted by the Environment Agency for the discharge.
Angling Unity
The Angling Unity discussions continue and are now focusing on the detailed planning necessary for a successful merger. As soon as more details, covering subjects such as membership benefits and subscription rates, are further developed we will share them with the membership of each participant organisation. As part of this process it has become clear that the recent attainment of charitable status by the Salmon and Trout Association makes it legally very difficult for them to merge into an angling representative body at this time due to the laws concerning charities. We will in time explore how the unified organisation and Salmon & Trout can work closely together in the future through some form of memorandum of understanding. The remaining organisations are still following a timetable to establish a new, unified organisation to represent all forms of angling by January 2009.
ACA 60th Anniversary Auction
We are pleased to announce a very late item entered into the auction, which admittedly, won't be to everyone's tastes! Thames Water plc have kindly donated a 20lb 2oz bream found dead, but in very good condition in Farmoor Reservoir recently, which they immediately put in a freezer. If you know any amateur or professional taxidermists that would like to purchase what would have been the British record bream, please refer them to the 'Miscellaneous' section of the auction catalogue on the ACA website.
We will be extending the closing dates to 30th July for this item, and any other lots that have not been bid for by the original end date of 16th July. In the meantime, if you haven't yet done so, please take a moment to look at the catalogue and make a bid - we need to raise as much as possible to continue the fight against the likes of the culprits above!
Best wishes from everyone at the ACA.
[NB - if you prefer, you can arrange to receive a copy of this email newsletter direct, by visiting the ACA website]
25 June 2008
River Derwent
After 18 months of waiting, the ACA's members in Derbyshire have expressed relief that the clean-up has at last begun on the Stoke Brook and River Derwent. However, concerns still remain about the long-term effects of heavy metals which have now entered the food chain, despite the Environment Agency's claims to the contrary.
For those unfamiliar with the sorry episode, a settlement lagoon owned by Glebe Mines burst in January 2007, discharging volumes of sediment into the river via one of its tributaries, the Stoke Brook. The sediment was contaminated with mine tailings - fine waste material - which included arsenic, cadmium, lead and other metals.
In a press release issued on the 16th June 2008, the EA stated that Food Standards Agency (FSA) tests on Derwent fish samples showed no impact of heavy metals on the river's food chain. However, the EA's own surveys, which we have now obtained, show that lead, cadmium and zinc levels in aquatic plants in the Stoke Brook - which bore the brunt of the pollution - have increased significantly compared to reference sites. We are still waiting for data which prove the fish are safe to eat.
This problem would have been greatly reduced if the EA had used its powers to start the removal of silt by last winter, as recommended by the polluter's own consultants. Anglers are now asking if the EA's determination to quash reports of heavy metal build-ups might be related to this delay.
For the full news release, please see http://www.a-c-a.org/whatsnew.php.
River Ribble
On a happier note, we were delighted to witness the launch of the EA's 'Ribble Watch' initiative on Monday 23rd June. CCTV cameras are being installed at various points along the river and the number of enforcement patrols will be increased in an effort to crack down on poaching. Anglers, walkers, cyclists and anyone else who uses the river are being encouraged to take part and to report any incidents to the enforcement teams. We welcome this Agency initiative and hope it is adopted by other regions. The ACA is planning campaigns on a number of other problems which are affecting the diverse fisheries in this fantastic river: agricultural pollution, over-abstraction, impassable weirs and building in the flood plain to name just a few.
Legal News
On 19th June we issued another claim against United Utilities, this time on behalf of Common Bank Lodge, near Chorley in Lancashire. On the 15th and 19th March 2006, raw sewage was discharged from the utility's Lydd Grove pumping station into the fishery. During the second of these discharges, the fishery was also hit by a simultaneous diesel spill, the source of which could not be determined by attending Environment Agency officers. The 19th March pollution caused an estimated fish kill of over 2,000, including perch, roach, gudgeon, bream, carp and pike. Although the EA did not take any fish samples, it is believed that the sewage was the primary cause of the kill. The Agency was, however, satisfied that United Utilities had committed an offence and issued a written warning. The ACA is claiming £8,748.16 in damages for Common Bank Angling Club for restocking and loss of amenity. This is one of three cases we are currently pursuing against United Utilities, along with the case won earlier in the year at the Lodges Fishery. Any angling club that is not a member of the ACA with water near to a United Utilities facility could do worse than to consider joining up.
Elsewhere, we continue to wait to hear from the Court regarding our appeal on the Eamont case. This relates to the appalling sewage discharge to the River Eamont in 2006 caused by a blockage in United Utilities' pipes. Watch this space!
The ACA has sent in the experts in the last few weeks to Westlands Lakes to examine the historic contamination which appears to be causing huge spikes of ammonia in one of the four lakes at the beautiful Westlands Lakes Fishery on Humberside.
Finally in legal news, in Scotland we have sought Senior Counsel's Opinion on legal action against rainbow trout farms for the continued escapes of rainbows into Loch Awe and Loch Lochy. The release of thousands of farmed fish from floating cages, be they rainbows or farmed salmon, can no longer be tolerated. The ACA is looking to bring legal action as soon as possible to give the industry the jolt it clearly requires. Again, watch this space!
Tees Barrage
On the 24th of June, the meeting between the ACA's member clubs and riparian owners on the River Tees and British Waterways and the Environment Agency finally went ahead. Mark Lloyd and Guy Linley-Adams from the ACA attended the meeting and, with the backing of more than 1,000 of our supporters, who signed our online petition, demanded information and action from the authorities involved. In particular they questioned BW about the three year study into fish passage past the Tees Barrage and any short term measures which might be put in place to deter seals. Of the 5 salmon which were netted swimming through the fish pass on that day, 5 had suffered seal damage and two salmon were eaten by seals just yards from the fish pass entrance. We will keep everyone informed of progress.
Fundraising
Once again Total-FishingClub.com has done the ACA proud, raising £1,600 for the cause at the annual two-day festival at Roy Marlow's Glebe Fishery in Leicestershire. If you like fishing and meeting new mates who share that passion, there's no better club to join. And what's more, new members can currently claim a £40 pack of top quality fishing line from Ultima. The website also has an unrivalled database of coarse, sea, match, carp and game articles from some of the top magazines, which is free to access for all members. You can do it all online at http://www.total-fishingclub.com
Finally, the ACA's 60th Anniversary Auction is just over half-way with bids now coming in daily. Please take a minute to have a look at the lots on the ACA website. Although we want to raise as much as possible, the guide price is just a rough indicator of the value of the lot - you can bid as much or as little as you can afford!
Best wishes from everyone at the ACA.
[NB - if you prefer, you can arrange to receive a copy of this email newsletter direct, by visiting the ACA website]
13 June 2008
Severn Barrage
A report by Europe's leading economic consultancy, Frontier Economics, has concluded that the power generated by a barrage across the Severn Estuary could be produced much more cheaply using other green technologies. The analysis also shows that the proposal to use taxpayers' money to build a £15 billion dam across the estuary would not, under existing Treasury rules, warrant special government subsidies or any other form of public investment.
Frontier's analysis, commissioned by ten UK environment groups including the ACA, follows a report last October by the Sustainable Development Commission, which said if a barrage between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare were built, it should be state funded and state run.
Even putting aside the huge uncertainties about the hydrological and ecological effects of constructing a tidal barrage in a dynamic and diverse environment like the Severn estuary, it is now clear that this proposed scheme does not make economic sense. If the government heeds the clear message in this report, tens of thousands of anglers who fish the Wye, Usk, Severn and all along the West coast, and the thousands of businesses which depend on income from anglers, will breathe a huge sigh of relief.
For more details and the full Press Release, please see http://www.a-c-a.org/whatsnew.php.
Legal News
In Northern Ireland, we have issued a claim for damages against a building company on behalf of the Threemile Water Conservation and Angling Association in County Antrim. While working on a nearby school in January 2006, O'Hare & McGovern Construction Ltd allowed oil from a tank to escape into the Threemile River, causing a substantial invertebrate kill. The Association had worked hard for some years to improve the river habitat, receiving a Wild Trout Trust award for their efforts. Catch returns of brown trout from the fishery in 2006 following the pollution were significantly down from previous years.
The Environment and Heritage Service (EHS), Northern Ireland's equivalent to the Environment Agency, investigated the incident at the time and sent a warning letter to the company, charging them a paltry £29.92 for their costs. For a long period the EHS would not confirm the identity of the Defendant until the ACA threatened to complain to the Information Commissioner. After long delays, the EHS finally confirmed the identity of the polluter and provided the long awaited case-file.
We are continuing to fight more than 50 other cases on behalf of our members.
Auction
Although the response has been good, many of the 140+ fantastic lots have still to be bid for. There really is something for everyone - coarse and game fishing, tackle, art and literature, with guide prices from £10 to £900. Please take a minute to look at what's on offer at http://www.a-c-a.org/2008fa.html and make a bid for anything that takes your interest using the simple online form.
Best wishes from everyone at the ACA.
[NB - if you prefer, you can arrange to receive a copy of this email newsletter direct, by visiting the ACA website]
27 May 2008
Two weeks into the ACA's 60th Anniversary Auction, the bids are now starting to roll in. Please take a moment to have a look at some of the wonderful lots and use the simple on-line form if you want to make a bid yourself. The more money we can raise the more we can do to fight those who harm our fishing. As in previous messages, we would be grateful if you let as many people as you can know about it - http://www.a-c-a.org/2008fa.html - even if they might bid higher than you!
Legal News
The insurers of a Powys farmer have agreed to pay compensation to two angling clubs for polluting a stretch of the River Camlad in June 2005. Despite a previous warning from the Environment Agency, slurry from Lynwood Farm near Churchstoke was released into the Caebitra Brook, itself an important spawning and nursery stream for trout, before making its way into the River Camlad. The pollution caused a fish kill of trout, grayling and bullheads, as well as wiping out invertebrate populations - a crucial source of food for the surviving fish. The civil case was brought against the farmer by the ACA on behalf of two angling clubs whose waters were affected, the Pheasant Tail Flyfishers and the Camlad Fly Fishers. According to the EA, it is likely that fish numbers in this once healthy river will take several years to recover. Despite this, the Agency failed to bring a criminal prosecution for the pollution.
Progress has also been made on the River Derwent in Derbyshire, where a mine- tailings lagoon containing waste contaminated with heavy metals burst in January 2007. An EA fisheries scientist produced a report soon after the event suggesting that action was needed to minimise the damage caused and that there should be proper investigation and monitoring of the heavy metals in the sediment deposited in the river. Despite this, the EA has carried out very few of the recommendations of its own report. The limited and flawed sampling that has taken place has forced the ACA to instruct its own expert on behalf of the member clubs affected. Initial results demonstrate that the levels of heavy metals in inverabrate samples - particularly lead - are high. We are awaiting the trial remediation work, which is probably going to take place in June - almost 18 months after the pollution.
Elsewhere, following pressure from the ACA and the Pickering Fishery Association, the EA has confirmed that funding has been secured to carry out a 12 month programme of continuous water quality monitoring to assess the impact of Costa and Willowdene fish farms and Pickering sewage treatment works on Costa Beck in North Yorkshire.
Finally on the legal front, representatives from the ACA, WWF and RSPB met this week to discuss the potential for using legal tools to press for proper implementation of the Water Framework Directive. Please watch this space....
Annual Report misprint
The latest Annual Report should have arrived with members this week. We would, however, like to point out an error on the 'Your Membership' section on page 51, which states that there is a proxy voting form enclosed regarding a proposed amendment to the rules of the ACA. This paragraph was printed in error: there will be no proposed amendment to the rules at the AGM and any such changes will be proposed in the autumn when more detailed information about angling unity will be available. Our apologies for any confusion this may have caused.
Our work is only possible because of the support and generosity of our members. Thank you to all those who support us - please encourage all your friends to join up now!
With best wishes from everyone at the ACA.
[NB - if you prefer, you can arrange to receive a copy of this email newsletter direct, by visiting the ACA website]
Angling Unity update - May 2008
Background
For the past year, the main national membership organisations representing anglers have been planning to unify into one body to represent all coarse, sea and game anglers. This is a move which has been long awaited and tried unsuccessfully in the past. We aim to make it a reality at last. It is widely known that there are millions of anglers in the UK, but they have never had a single professional, high-profile and well-funded organisation to represent their views.
Who is involved?
The organisations participating in unification are:
The Anglers' Conservation Association (ACA) - uses the law to fight pollution and other damage to rivers, lakes and canals on behalf of its members.
The National Federation of Anglers (NFA) - governing body for coarse angling in England, organises regional and national competitions, manages coarse angling development and provides services to its member clubs.
The National Federation of Sea Anglers (NFSA) - governing body for sea angling in England, organises regional and national competitions, manages sea angling development, campaigns on environmental and other issues affecting recreational sea angling.
National Association of Fisheries and Angling Consultatives (NAFAC) - the national representative body for local fisheries and angling consultatives (groups or organisations set up to represent the interests of anglers, angling clubs, and owners in specific catchment or geographical areas).
The Salmon and Trout Association (S&TA) - recently registered as a charity, the body which represents the interests of the UK's game anglers, fishery owners/managers and affiliated trades, in all issues relevant to angling and fisheries legislation, regulation, management and conservation.
The Specialist Anglers Alliance (SAA) - represents the interests of specialist anglers and angling groups ranging from English Carp Heritage Organisation and the Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain to the Tenchfishers and the Eel groups, as well as member clubs and societies and individual angling members.
The process is being co-ordinated by the Fisheries and Angling Conservation Trust (FACT), which is the existing umbrella body representing these and other angling and fishery organisations.
What will the new body do?
The new body will of course continue the work of these organisations, but it will also do much more. It will offer new services to its members, develop new campaigns, lobby government effectively, raise the profile of angling and fisheries conservation and fight to protect angling at a local and national level.
There are many important issues on which action is needed:
- Increased funding for teaching young people how to fish and recognition of the education value of fishing.
- Continue and improve fishing competitions and success rates at regional, national and international levels.
- Reverse the decline in government funding for fisheries despite increased revenue from rod licences.
- Reinstate angling and fisheries to the heart of the Environment Agency's and DEFRA's policies and ensure representation on RFERAC and REPAC committees.
- Support existing regional networks (e.g. consultatives and fishery associations) with professional staff.
- Raise local issues at a national level and report back the results of lobbying and campaigns.
- Support angling clubs with legal advice and provide guidance on: e.g. leases, access, constitutions, health & safety, fundraising and fisheries management.
- Reverse the damage caused by commercial overfishing at sea.
- Control sand and gravel extraction from rivers and the seabed.
- Prevent unregulated access by canoes and other craft.
- Secure management strategies for predators such as cormorants and goosanders.
- Improve regulation of water pollution from industry, agriculture and sewage.
- Reduce abstraction of water which has led to rivers and lakes drying up.
- Clear up and prevent litter in rivers and on sea shores - there are currently inadequate duties to remove it.
- Reverse the destruction of habitat by flood defence, land drainage and damaging trawling methods.
- Remove barriers to the movement of marine, coarse and game fish in rivers and estuaries (e.g. Severn Barrage and weirs built in the industrial revolution which serve no purpose).
- Demand better enforcement and legislation to prevent fish theft, illegal sales of fish and poaching.
- Protect angling from being banned from rivers, lakes, harbours, shorelines and piers due to health & safety or wildlife protection.
- Keep fish disease such as KHV and Gyrodactylus salaris out of the UK.
- Campaign to stop commercial fish farming causing pollution, sea lice infestation and escapes of farmed fish into the wild.
- Ensure Sea Fishery Committees have adequate angling representation and have a positive programme to protect and develop angling.
- To use the law to stop damage occurring to aquatic habitats owned or leased by our club, riparian and fishery owner members and to fight for compensation when it does occur.
These are all very important issues which need to be fought at the local, regional and national level with professional staff being employed to deliver programmes of work and to campaign and lobby government. This will only be possible if we can create an organisation which attracts the support of the majority of anglers to provide both the revenue and the political weight to get things done.
Getting the detail right is fundamental to the success of the new body and the next two sections help explain why it's taking what seems a long time.
Progress so far
News of the plans for unification first broke in November 2007. Since then, all the organisations have been consulting their memberships about whether they should be involved. The response has been overwhelmingly supportive, although there are many members of the existing bodies who have concerns. Angling newspapers and magazines have all been very supportive of the plans, which have also been reported in national newspapers.
Each of the six organisations has now contributed £10,000 to a unification fund and a Transition Board, comprising the Chairmen of the organisations, has been seeking professional advice about the legal and financial implications of unification. It is naturally a very complicated process, given that the organisations are constituted differently (there is one registered charity, several limited companies, some purely voluntary bodies, and an unincorporated association involved). Most of the organisations employ staff and their employment rights will be protected.
All of the parties are currently undertaking due diligence - which means that all the organisations have to provide copies of their accounts and details of all their databases, supplier and staff contracts, office equipment, stock, assets and liabilities etc. Amalgamation of these across six differently constituted bodies is more complex than many business mergers. The Board has also been getting advice about how to ensure that the new organisation should be marketed to ensure that it can achieve its aim of mass membership.
What's happening next?
The Transition Board is now supervising work in three main areas:
Business planning - organisation structure, board memberships, charitable status, due diligence, membership rates and projections, costing of activities, developing partnerships with the tackle trade and other organisations to generate income.
Member benefits - developing a package of services and benefits to offer each category of members in return for their subscriptions.
National remit - holding discussions with organisations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to finalise arrangements to reflect devolution whilst continuing to deliver some services throughout the UK. We are also discussing the status of the unified body with Sport England.
When these pieces of work are complete, the organisation will be ready to set out its plans in more detail with regard to its activities, membership benefits, service delivery and organisation structure. When this detail is available, each organisation will need to go through a different process to secure the support of its membership and management to transfer its staff and assets into the new body. The plan is to launch the new organisation in January 2009.
Membership
The new organisation is not yet constituted and so it is not possible for anglers to join up yet. If you want to support the process, the best way is to join (or remain a member of) one of the participant organisations now. This will help them continue their important work while the plans for unification are being finalised. Your membership will be transferred to the new unified body when it is formed in 2009.
More information
This is the first of a series of free monthly e-newsletters about Angling Unity. To sign up to receive future editions, or for more information about unification, please visit http://anglingunity.co.uk
Spread the word
Please forward this information on to any anglers you know to help spread the word about this exciting development.
[NB - this link will take straight to sign up to receive the Angling Unity newsletters.]
16 May 2008
Starting today, the ACA is launching its special 60th anniversary fund raising auction. Over 140 fantastic lots, generously donated by our supporters, are now available for you to bid for via our website. There are also full details in our latest Annual Report. There are some fantastic items in several categories - guided fishing trips with high profile anglers, coarse and game fishing all over the UK, coarse and game tackle, art and literature. Much of the fishing on offer is on private rivers and lakes giving you the chance to fish waters that would not be available otherwise. Guide prices range from £10 to £900 so there should be something for everyone. Please remember this auction is to raise funds to help us to continue to fight those who damage our fishing, it's not a bargain hunt!
The auction operates on a sealed bid basis, ending July 16th. If you see something from the catalogue of lots that interests you, you can bid the maximum you would be prepared to pay for that lot. If your bid is the highest on the closing date (July 16th) you win that lot but you only have to pay £5 more than the next highest bid, rather than the full amount of your original bid. If two maximum bids are the same, the first bidder wins, so get in quick! You can make bids directly through the form on the website.
Good luck and happy bidding!
[NB - if you prefer, you can arrange to receive a copy of this email newsletter direct, by visiting the ACA website]
10 April 2008
The ACA has always been proud to have lost only 3 cases in its 60 year history. Sadly, this record is under threat as a court last week ruled in favour of United Utilities in a case we have been fighting on behalf of The Yorkshire Flyfishers Club and Penrith Anglers. For two days in April 2006 raw sewage spilt from a blocked main sewer at the pipe bridge at Penrith, Cumbria, into the river Eamont (a tributary of the Eden), polluting the water and littering the banks with sewage debris. Although the Environment Agency decided at the time that the pollution was a criminal offence under the Water Resources Act 1991, no prosecution was brought against United Utilities. Naturally, we were shocked by the judgement, which, if allowed to stand, effectively means that the utility will have been allowed to pollute the Eamont with no legal consequences whatsoever. We are currently considering, along with the clubs, the grounds on which to lodge an appeal. This is one of four cases we have been fighting against United Utilities in 2008 - one was settled successfully in February.
Elsewhere, we have settled a claim against a farmer in Powys who polluted the River Camlad, a tributary of the Severn, in June 2005. A release of slurry from his farm caused a fish kill and wiped out invertebrate populations. Acting on behalf of the Pheasant Tail Flyfishers and the Camlad Fly Fishers Club, we secured £2,500 in compensation for loss of amenity, divided between the 2 clubs. Again, the Environment Agency failed to bring a criminal prosecution.
Given yesterday's announcement that Severn Trent Water is facing a record £35.8m fine for deliberately providing false information to the regulator and the fact that Southern Water was fined £20.3m for similar offences earlier this year, we are amazed that the Environment Agency is pressing ahead with 'Operator Self Monitoring' plans which would put water companies in charge of monitoring their own environmental performance. The ACA is very concerned that this will lead to less - rather than better - regulation and has raised this at a senior level in the Agency. We will keep up the pressure. For full details on this and the above cases, please see: ACA website.
The ACA's AGM will this year be held on Friday 20 June in London. More details, including how to vote on any special resolutions, will be included in the ACA's annual report, out in late May.
Finally, last year the ACA raised more than £15,000 in auctions at the ACA Masters, our fundraising dinner and in our Annual Report, thanks to the generosity of many individuals, clubs and companies.
As you might be aware, 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the ACA, something which we would very much like to celebrate with you and all our members. We will this year be rolling all our auctions into one, within a special edition of our Annual Report and via our website.
We would be very grateful for any donations to our 2008 auction. It could be a day or two's fishing, some fishing tackle, a stay in a hotel or anything else you feel appropriate. We are looking for a wide range of lots and therefore low value donations are just as welcome as the more expensive items. If you feel you have anything appropriate to donate, please email Seth Johnson-Marshall at, seth (at) a (hyphen) c (hyphen) a (dot) org or contact him on 01568 620 447.
We will announce the start of the bidding in the ACA annual report which will be sent to all members in late May - please keep an eye out for your copy.
Best wishes from all at the ACA.
[NB - if you prefer, you can arrange to receive a copy of this email newsletter direct, by visiting the ACA website]
27 March 2008
Significant progress has been made over the past couple of weeks in two cases. In Ayrshire, Scotland, we have just put a claim in for £16,000 from a farming contractor on behalf of the Darvel Angling Club, whose water on the River Irvine was polluted in November 2006 by a release of slurry into a nearby tributary, the Gower Water. The pollution caused the death of over 7,000 salmon and trout and the contractor was successfully prosecuted by the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency in September 2007. This is the first claim the ACA has made north of the border since the re-establishment of our operations in Scotland last year, although our legal team is investigating nine other cases and nearly 20 advice matters.
In Lancashire, we are happy to report that United Utilities have agreed to pay £30,000 in damages to the Rochdale and District Angling Society after chlorinated water had been released from the company's Buersil reservoir, down a hill and into the five pools that make up the Lodges Fishery. The resultant flooding caused species such as carp, tench, rudd, roach, perch and trout to be washed into the nearby river and, on occasions, left them stranded and dying on the banks of the fishery. The flooding also eroded the hillside, dumping tonnes of silt in the pools. The money will go towards restocking and dredging work to return the fishery to its previous state. For more details on both these cases, please see, http://www.a-c-a.org/whatsnew.php
The Tees Barrage Campaign continues to gather momentum. We now have approaching 1,000 people signed up to the petition. British Waterways and the Environment Agency have agreed to meet the ACA, along with representatives from our member clubs and riparian owners to find a solution to the problems the barrage has caused.
On a similar subject, a petition has been started against the proposed Severn Barrage on the 10 Downing Street website - http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/savethesevern/
We would like to extend a warm welcome to the 60+ new members that recently joined the ACA at the 'Spring Fly Show' in Newark and the 'Go Fishing Show' at the NEC. Many thanks to you (and to all our other members) for your support, which helps us continue the fight against those who threaten our fishing.
Best wishes from the ACA.
[NB - if you prefer, you can arrange to receive a copy of this email newsletter direct, by visiting the ACA website]
28 February 2008
2007 was another record year for the ACA. We settled 34 legal cases, recovered over £200,000 in compensation and advised 140 clubs and owners on a whole range of issues. We look forward in 2008 to keeping up the fight against those that damage our water and hope that we continue to receive your much valued support while doing so.
Some of you have already received replies to your questions regarding the unification issue. Our Chairman has answered some of the more frequent queries and concerns in a Q & A update, shown below. For those that would like to discuss unification or any other ACA matter, we will be at the Spring Flyfishing Show this weekend - www.thespringflyfishingshow.com and at the Go Fishing Show from the 14th to 16th March at the NEC, Birmingham - www.gofishingshow.com We look forward to seeing you there.
Best wishes from all at the ACA.
Update on Angling Unification
I wrote to you in December about the proposed unification of angling's representative bodies. We have had several hundred responses to this letter. I am very grateful to everyone who took the time and trouble to share with us their enthusiasm for the proposal and equally to those who raised their concerns about our plans.
Because of the sheer volume of correspondence, it is not possible to reply personally to everyone. There are a number of questions which have been raised more than once and we have attempted to provide answers to them where possible below. There is still a great deal of discussion to be had before the final proposal is fully formed, but our members' comments have been very helpful in helping to firm up ideas about the structure, activities and ways of avoiding potential pitfalls of the new organisation.
Above all, we have been reassured by the fact that more than 90% of the responses we have received have been unconditionally supportive of the concept of a unified body for angling. We are now working with accountants, lawyers and marketing specialists to develop a name, a corporate structure, membership arrangements and benefits package. This will help the joining organisations draft resolutions to put to their AGMs this Spring.
1. Q: I am a life member of one of the organisations. What will happen to my membership after unification?
A: It is anticipated that life memberships will be honoured and carried forward into the new body to recognise the substantial support of these members in the past. However, if this is the case, one-off donations from life members to help with the costs of establishing the new organisation would, of course, be very welcome.
2. Q: What if I am a member of more than one organisation at the moment?
A: You will only pay one subscription in the future. Four for the price of one! We realise that this will mean that we will initially lose some income from those people who have more than one subscription. However, we intend to grow the membership rapidly and cut overhead costs so that this initial dip will quickly be made up for by new membership revenue and efficiencies. This applies to clubs and individuals alike. Many clubs are struggling to decide to which of the many organisations they can afford to affiliate; now they will have just one annual membership charge but receive all the services offered by the existing bodies, and more. Donations will always be welcome of course...
3. Q: How much will membership cost?
A: We are working on this now with our advisers and will be testing the market over the coming weeks. We want the basic membership to be affordable for all anglers, but at the same time we need to make it possible for individuals to offer additional support for particular campaigns or activities.
Similarly, we will offer clubs, river and fishery owners a fuller range of services for much less than they would currently pay for membership of more than one of the participant organisations. In brief, we will charge less than the collective subscriptions, but do more!
4. Q: I support the concept of unification, but I want to be sure that the good work of the NFA/ACA/S&TA/NAFAC will continue in the future and will not get lost in a large organisation.
A: Our vision for the new body is that it will be able to do much more for anglers and fishery interests than the current sum of its existing parts. This will mean that it will encourage more young anglers, organise more competitions, exert greater influence on Government and its agencies, make more legal challenges to polluters, offer discounts and generally protect its members' interests better. Our vision is not just for a body which does a little more of everything we currently do: we want to create an organisation which is in a completely different league to anything anglers, clubs and fishery managers have had before. It needs to be far more efficient, professional and dynamic. It must be nationally recognised by anglers and non-anglers alike.
5. Q: I'm worried that a larger organisation will be more bureaucratic and will waste money.
A: It's true that when organisations are very large they can become faceless bureaucracies which spend most of their money on meetings about meetings and fail to deliver any real benefits. Many government departments and agencies seem to fall into this trap... Anglers need a single organisation to represent properly their interests and while this is bound to be larger than any of the joining bodies it will always focus on delivering real benefits rather than maintaining its own existence.
By unifying, we will merge at least 4 administrations. By so doing, we will reduce the costs of printing, design, postage, software licences, audit fees, accountancy, legal advice, insurance, training and property management, to name but a few. More of the staff will spend their time delivering the organisation's objectives, rather than on administration.
6. Q: Will the new organisation cover just England or the whole UK?
A: Some of the participant organisations currently work only in England, while others have operations throughout the UK. It is very important that all these operations continue, and continue to develop, after unification. However, the new body will also perform certain roles - for example being the governing body for coarse, game and possibly sea fishing - only in England. Other organisations will continue to act as the governing bodies for the different disciplines of angling in Scotland and in Wales.
Most anglers go fishing at one time or another in other nations within the UK. Many of the things this new body will do will benefit all anglers, wherever they fish. UK-wide and European activities affect our interests - these include implementation of the Water Framework Directive, conservation of cross border rivers, marine fisheries conservation, the effects of climate change etc. After all, many of our rivers flow, and fish swim, across borders within the UK.
We will continue to work closely with the existing organisations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure that all anglers in the UK get the best service and support in the most sensible and cost-effective way.
7. Q: Is the new body just another talking shop?
A: NO. Everyone involved is committed to making absolutely sure that the new organisation will deliver real benefits to anglers. Objectives will be agreed in advance by consulting members, and performance will be monitored and reported. Service level agreements will be agreed with clubs, river and fishery owners. Angling has always benefited from the tremendous efforts of volunteers, from organising local competitions to lobbying Europe. The new body will give greater support to these stalwarts with technical advice, information materials and training courses.
8. Q: Will we get to vote on whether our organisation gets involved?
A: Each organisation has different constitutional arrangements, but there will be a further opportunity for members of all the existing bodies to have a say regarding whether or not their organisation joins the new body at this stage. In the case of the ACA, there will be a vote at the AGM.
9. Q: How democratic will the new organisation be? What role will clubs and individual members have in determining policy, electing the board and officers etc?
A: The rules or constitution of the new organisation will be drafted over the next two months, but it is our intention that the new body will involve its members in policy decisions through a regional network of groups comprised of Consultatives and branches of the participant organisations. There will also be mechanisms in place for ballots or polls of the membership to be taken on controversial issues. The usual practice in representative organisations is for the Chairman and the Board to be elected by the membership to serve for a fixed term, after which they will choose whether to be put forward for re-election. The board would appoint the executives and other paid staff, who would be protected by employment legislation and could not be voted out of office. The organisation will only be able to prove to government that it is truly representative if it has a significant number of members and there is a transparent process for them to express their views.
10. Q: Will the new body be dominated by coarse/game/sea angling interests?
A: The governance arrangements of the new body will guarantee against any such domination.
As far as possible, issues will be dealt with across all disciplines. Cleaning up sewage overflows in our rivers, for example, would benefit all river fish and would also reduce coastal pollution. Angling is a positive contributor to society, the environment and the economy, whether it is done using a pole, fly rod or beach caster, and should be promoted in its entirety. There will, however, be topics which require a specialist approach and we intend to recruit staff and voluntary committee members who can discuss and take action to address particular issues such as Koi Herpes Virus in carp, the impact of salmon farms on wild stocks, or the minimum landing size for bass. However, nearly half of all regular anglers practice more than one type of fishing and we are determined to break down the artificial barriers which have been created between people who all share a love of angling.
11. Q: What about the issues about which anglers fundamentally disagree?
A: There will be some controversial issues, such as the stocking of rivers, or certain fishing techniques, where anglers will never agree. The new body will not set out to achieve the impossible by seeking solutions to issues which have been debated for generations. There are plenty of things for us to deal with about which we do all agree. Where a policy position or action is required on a particular issue (e.g. if a ban on livebaiting were proposed in England), the new body's constitution will set out a clear and open mechanism for its members to be involved in its decisions.
I hope that these answers will help address your concerns. We will be circulating further details in the next month or two to our entire membership along with notice of our AGM. Thank you once again for your support of the ACA.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Stephen Marsh-Smith
Chairman
31 October 2007
Legal Update
Our in-house lawyers have achieved spectacular success once again so far this year, settling more than 20 claims and recovering over £100,000 for our member clubs, fisheries and owners. They have also helped more than 115 member clubs and owners with legal issues related to angling.New cases taken on in the last 6 months include: pollution from cooking oil, landfill leachate, paper mill effluent, sewage, china clay, chemical works, mine tailings and slurry. We are also working on new cases involving exclusion of our members from access to their fishing, flood prevention works and the escape of farmed rainbow trout.
There's no way we can sum up all that work in this e-mail; please visit the 'case update' page on our website for the latest progress. You can also keep in touch with our latest press releases on the 'what's new' section of our site, including an update on the recent River Wandle pollution.
Since the spring, the ACA's legal team has grown - both geographically, with more cases in Scotland, and in number, with the appointment of Penny Gane as our new Legal Support Assistant.
Campaigns update
The ACA has continued to lobby government and its agencies about the need to have a radical rethink of water policy through the Blueprint for Water campaign. This has led to us holding meetings with the Chief Executive and department heads of the Environment Agency, the Chief Executive of OFWAT and several government ministers.Defra's long awaited water strategy, and the opposition parties' policy reviews on water have all been influenced by the campaign. Please keep the pressure up by mentioning the Blueprint if you have contact with your MP.
We have been focusing recently on intermittent sewage discharges and the proposals to allow water companies to monitor their own performance.These campaigns have been picked up by the angling press and in The Times in Brian Clarke's monthly column and in a letter from our Chairman to the paper. See: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/article2563428.eceand: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/letters/article2570133.ece
We are currently recruiting a new Campaigns and Marketing Manager to expand these campaigns and to help raise awareness of our work.
Membership
We are delighted to report that our membership continues to increase in nearly all categories. Please help us spread the word by encouraging your friends/club/fishery to sign up at www.a-c-a.org/joinhere. If you would like membership leaflets to give out, please contact us and we'll send you as many as you want.New subscription rates for 2008 will be listed in the autumn newsletter which will be sent out this week to all our members. This mailing will include raffle tickets with a top prize of £2,500 in cash and runner up prizes sponsored by Daiwa; please send them back promptly so that you have a chance of winning.
Finally, thank you to all our members and donors for their support. The ACA depends entirely on their generosity to continue its fight to protect our rivers, canals, lakes and above all, our fish.
Best wishes and happy fishing from everyone at ACA HQ.
Feedback and comments very welcome at http://www.a-c-a.org/contactus.