WILD FISHERIES REFORM – UPDATE AND KEY ISSUES

SFCA continues to be actively involved in developments emerging from 2014’s Wild Fisheries Review, which are now brigaded together as the Wild Fisheries Reform programme (WFR). Over the last few months we have participated at the Scottish Government’s invitation in the Stakeholder Reference Group (http://www.gov.scot/Topics/marine/Salmon-Trout-Coarse/fishreform/refgroup ) that is helping to develop detailed ideas for implementing the measures from the Review, and in a separate group of interested parties which is drafting proposals for a new Wild Fisheries Strategy.

A Scottish Government consultation paper and draft Bill will be issued early in the New Year. These will put forward proposals for major changes to legislation in support of WFR. Thanks to the participative way in which these proposals have been developed we can expect much of this to be benign from the coarse angling perspective, but as always SFCA will be responding in detail and promoting coarse anglers’ interests as far as possible. The consultation will be a real game-changing opportunity for our sector and it’s vital that clubs and individual anglers also respond.

The note here (Wild Fisheries Reform – Key Issues) sets out what we see as the key issues in the current debates around WFR, explains the lines we’ve been taking in discussions with the Scottish Government and other stakeholders, and asks some questions on how you feel about the matters in question. Please take a little of your time to read it and comment by email to ron.woods@ntlworld.com, or on the SFCA Facebook page. We need your input, both to bring new ideas and to give us confidence that the direction in which we’re pushing genuinely reflects the views of the coarse angling public.

Tags: Environment, Protecting Fish, Protecting Rights and Access, Wild Fisheries Review