Aquaculture & Fisheries Bill Consultation – Final Response from SFCA

We would also urge you, both as individuals and member clubs, to submit replies of your own directly to the Scottish Government, even if you only write to say that you support the SFCA response. You can read the consultation document at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/12/06081229/0. The procedure for responding is set out in the consultation document, and replies have to be submitted no later than Friday, 2 March 2012.

Daiwa & J B Angling Centre

The SFCA are delighted to announce a brand new competition open to ALL match anglers in Scotland. The inaugural ‘Scottish Match Angler of the Year’ competition will run from the 4^th March until the 28^th September to find the most consistant match anlger on the Scottish match circut.

The winner will receive a £500 tackle voucher to spend on Daiwa products at JB Angling Centre, Kirkintilloch plus, he or she will also qualify for the SFCA League of Champions final at Magiscroft in October with the chance to win a further £1000 worth of tackle from Daiwa.

This event is open to all anglers and is free to enter. All you have to do is make sure that the matches that you fish on an Sunday between the 4^th March and 28^th Spetember are reported to the SFCA Match Secretary Davie McAuley by the Tuesday evening after the match so your points can be registered and updated in the overall league table.

Results from any match fished on a Sunday will count wether it’s a private club, SFCA organised event, Fishery league series (Barra’s, Orchill or Broom Leagues) or even just a friendly Sunday sweep amongst friends and club mates will all count to score points.

Results are to be sent by e-mail to david_mcauley@hotmail.co.uk or text 07872836894

Please note results reported after the Tuesday deadline will not count as the league table will be updated every Wednesday.

Organsied events run by the main fisheries will be reported to Davie McAuley by the people nominated below but if you are running your own private sweep or club matches at these venues or other venues then it is the responsibility of your club or match organiser to report your own results.

Magiscroft – Tommy Lauriston

Springwater – Tommy Mitchell

Broom – John Wright

Orchill – Andrew Jackson

Tight Lines and Good Luck!!!

The match is run as a combined Team and Individual competition.

Draw: 8.45am

Fish: 11am until 4pm.

Rules: Normal SFCA match rules apply. The individual winner will qualify for the League of Champions Final at Magiscroft Fisheries, Cumbernauld on 7th October 2011.

Fees: Cost for entry is £10.00

Booking In: Please pre-book before 31st March by calling Simon Murray on 07702715592 or Davie Mcauley on 07872836894

See also last years results from the 2011 Federation Cup match.

 

I am delighted to announce the following provisional squads for this year’s international events.

World Championships – Czech Republic- September

Davy Corcoran, James Woodrow, Colin McKerrel, Ewan Weed, Brian Clark and Jamie Masson. Coach: Gus Brindle

Fish O Mania Home International – Browning Cudmore, England – July

Jamie Masson, Davy Corcoran, Brian Clark, James Woodrow. Coach: Gus Brindle

Celtic Cup – Inniscarra, Ireland- August

Alan Connelly, Ian Whitson, Darren Ferguson, George Glen, James Woodrow, Davy Corcoran, Colin Hart. Coach: Gus Brindle

Sensas Challenge – Gloucester Canal, England – March

James Woodrow, John Baird Jnr, Davy Corcoran, Colin McKerrel, Alan Connelly and Gus Brindle.

I’m sure you’ll join me in wishing the squads all the best this year.

Tight Lines

Chris Paton

International Team Manager

As anglers our sport depends on these complex and often delicately balanced aquatic environments to sustain a healthy population of fish for us to catch.  Invasive aquatic species can have a devastating impact on Scottish plants and animals, they have the potential to alter the balance of an ecosystem as they often grow faster or are more aggressive than our native species. Invasive aquatic species also have the potential to render waterways unusable for fishing, for example invasive plants can choke waters, reducing flow and oxygen levels and even deny access to the water’s edge while the American Signal crayfish can destroy fish eggs and fry and ruin decent fisheries by homing in and feeding on anglers baits.

Animals, plant fragments, eggs and larvae are easily transported from one place to another on boats, equipment, shoes, clothing and other damp places where they can survive for days, if not weeks.  But it is not only invasive non-native plants and animals that can be transported from one water body to another.  Parasites and disease are also easily transported particularly if the conditions are favourable.  Anglers’ nets, particularly keepnets, present one of the most significant risks and the SFCA strongly urges all anglers to adopt the following code of practice to protect the future of our fisheries.

DO follow the Scottish Government’s ‘Check, Clean, Dry’ code

In particular:

DON’T use keepnets to retain fish unless absolutely necessary.

DON’T leave your nets in a stink bag between fishing trips.

DO ensure that you lay out your keepnet and landing net and ensure that they have the chance to dry out completely between uses.

NEVER move fish from one water body to another without statutory consent.

DO spread this message and encourage others to adopt this code.

By carrying out these simple steps when you leave the water and when you get home you can help to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species and disease and keep our fisheries and fish healthy.  For more information visit http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Wildlife-Habitats/InvasiveSpecies/Campaign

Martin has been the lead for SFCA coaching and a key member of the Executive Committee throughout my time as Chairman.  He has worked tirelessly to ensure that our coaches were appropriately trained and supported, and that they always represented the SFCA in a highly professional manner.   Despite the fact that Martin will continue to be a key member of our Coach Tutor/Assessor Team, I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of all of the coaches, the clubs and individual members of the SFCA, to thank him for all of his work to date and wish him Tight Lines for the future.

With immediate effect the new Coaching Officer will be John Rae who moves from Development Officer.  John is also a member of the SFCA Coach Tutor/Assessor Team and has played a key role in driving forward our delivery of the Club Angling Program.  He has worked closely with Martin on many of the coaching initiatives which will help to make the transition as seamless as possible.   John will also continue to keep a watching brief on the role of Development Officer until such time as a suitable replacement can be identified.

If you feel that you may be interested in the post of Development Officer please contact me at chairman@sfca.co.uk.  Download the Job Description for the post of Development Officer here

The successful candidate will be expected to establish Get Hooked Glasgow and coordinate the Dumfries & Galloway scheme.

As Scotland Coordinator you’ll lead the work with young people in Glasgow and Dumfries & Galloway. You’ll be responsible for the development and delivery of the Get Hooked accredited programme, working closely with partner organisations. You’ll have a relevant qualification within the field of education, social work or youth work, or equivalent and have significant experience of working with vulnerable young people.

This post is funded by Inspiring Scotland and the Robertson Trust.

Direct experience of working with children in either a professional or volunteer capacity is essential.

Application form and job specification can be downloaded from www.ghof.org.uk/latest-news

Applications with covering letter and CV by 10th February 2012:
Jonathan Duncan, Old Billingham Business Centre,
Chapel Road, Billingham, Stockton on Tees, TS23 1EN
or by email to jonathan.duncan@ghof.org.uk

The site includes three flooded quarries which are understood to contain roach, perch, pike and eels, and have for many years served as a free – if not always entirely safe – fishery for nearby anglers.

We have contacted both North Lanarkshire Council and the surveyors who are acting for the developers. We explained local anglers’ concerns that the existing fish populations would be killed off during the infill works, and that there is no indication that the developers envisage providing angling facilities as part of the “recreation and amenity resource” they propose to create.

We therefore asked them about their intentions regarding the rescue and relocation of the current fish stocks before these works commence (among other things, bearing in mind that there may be statutory obligations in relation to the population of European Eels), and provision for angling to continue after the works are complete.

We also offered our assistance, both in terms of advising on how best to configure the new “shallow water bodies” to facilitate safe and effective angling and also by exploring the potential to work with the developers, the Council and the local community to promote angling and perhaps provide coaching for local youngsters.

Our correspondence with the Council and the surveyors has established that the planning process is still at a very early stage. No final decisions have been made. The proposal put to North Lanarkshire Council last year was not itself a planning application but an “EIA Screening Request”, which is a preliminary step in which the developers outline the works they are considering and ask the Council to say whether a statutory Environmental Impact Assessment is required.

If the developers decide to proceed with a formal planning application they will first need to undertake a pre-application consultation with local community groups at a public event/exhibition which would be advertised in the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser at least 7 days in advance.

This will give the community an opportunity to discuss the proposals in detail with the developer to identify and address any local concerns which may influence the scope of the proposals before a planning application is submitted to the Council. The re-introduction of angling facilities at the site could of course be highlighted to the developer at this time.

If a planning application is submitted, there will then be a further opportunity for interested parties to comment on the final proposals. The application would be accompanied by an Environmental Statement (if required) and full details of any restoration scheme (including angling facilities if appropriate). A report will also be included setting out the results of the public consultation and to what degree the proposals were altered following input from the local community.

The Council would then consider the planning application, taking account of the local development plan and other material considerations including the ES details on environmental impacts, consultation responses, and any representations from the local community, before deciding whether or not planning permission should be granted.

The surveyor has written to say that they and the developer would welcome the opportunity to discuss the proposed development with us, and has promised to contact us once they are in a position to provide further details regarding the proposal. We take this as a positive sign, and in the circumstances there seems nothing more that can be done at the moment. We will report progress on the SFCA website in future.

On a related issue, we note that posts have appeared on certain Internet forums suggesting that some individuals intended to take matters into their own hands by removing and relocating fish from these waters. Can we remind anglers that the movement of live fish without statutory consent is illegal (see our previous article on this subject: Fish Movements -Know-the-Law ) and point out the reputational damage – to SFCA and member clubs – that can arise when comments are posted on public forums suggesting that some coarse anglers are not prepared to respect the law on such matters. Please don’t do it!

Ron Woods, Policy Officer

The process has involved writing six new policy documents and reviewing several others as well as updating the various web pages.  All of the new policies and procedures are now available on line in the Child Protection section of the website.

While our old policies and procedures already met all of the requirements and remained fit for purpose, having everything contained in one large document made it difficult for people to navigate and find the information that they were looking for.  It is hoped that the new layout will overcome this problem and ensure that everyone who requires information can find it easily.

The SFCA would welcome your feedback on whether this section of the website meets your requirements and on any areas for improvement.  We would also appreciate your assistance in publicising the changes to everyone involved in coarse angling in Scotland, and particularly junior anglers , parents, and individuals and groups involved in organising angling activities for them.

Tight Lines,

Gus Brindle, Chairman

You can read the consultation document at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2011/12/06081229/0 .

With a few exceptions, the proposals in the consultation document are mainly directed towards regulating the activities of marine fish farms, sea fisheries or salmon fisheries, and thus not relevant to coarse angling.

However it does invite comments on the issue of funding public services that support freshwater fisheries in general and, perhaps most important, invites consultees to put forward their own suggestions for items that require new or amended legislation.

SFCA believes this is a valuable opportunity to raise a number of matters of concern to coarse anglers in relation to the protection of coarse fish stocks and the way in which access for angling is regulated.

The SFCA Committee has agreed a draft response which makes specific proposals on these matters, as well as answering those of the consultation questions in which there is a coarse angling interest. The draft response can be read by clicking the following link:

Aquaculture & Fisheries Bill Consultation document – Dec 11 – SFCA Draft Response (Ver 1.1)

We want to be confident that the SFCA response reflects the consensus of views among our member clubs and individual members.

We are therefore offering you the opportunity to comment on what we have drafted, and let us know if there are any other issues you wish us to raise, before our response is finalised and sent to the Scottish Government.

Please send your comments (or those of your club, if appropriate) to chairman@sfca.co.uk no later than 31st January 2012 so that we have sufficient time to do any necessary redrafting.

We would also urge you, both as individuals and member clubs, to submit responses of your own directly to the Scottish Government, even if you only write to say that you support the SFCA response.

The procedure for responding is set out in the consultation document, and responses have to be submitted no later than Friday, 2 March 2012.