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Last Word
By admin | March 5, 2008
November ’07
Estimates of the numbers of anglers in the U.K. vary from something between 1 and 4 million people. And yet, despite these numbers and the fact that angling is the largest participant sport in the U.K., contributing a reported £3.5 billion pounds into the economy, the sport itself remains generally unrecognised in the corridors of power and influence. Anyone looking at this from outside, would, I’m sure, find it difficult to imagine why, while many on the inside never even give it a thought. Others possibly even wonder if it is important, after all angling for many is a somewhat solitary sport and is seen by the public at large as such, and in many circles promoted in the same manner.
So why do we find ourselves in this situation, and is it important?
Historically angling enthusiasts fell almost naturally into three main categories, those that fished in the sea, those that by privilege fished for game fish and the rest who fished for whatever they could find. As a result they organised themselves into representative groups, the outcome being the formation of today’s three governing bodies the National Federation of Sea Anglers, NFSA, the Salmon and Trout Association, S&TA, and the National Federation of Anglers, NFA.
In the coarse fishing world the growth of the population, usually based in areas with concentrations of industry, resulted in something inevitable. With local rivers and the environment in general severely polluted by such human activity in these areas, groups of predominantly men, often working and living in adverse conditions, formed local clubs, based on the work place, or pubs, in order to ‘get away from it all’ at weekends and go fishing. In order to secure waters in which to fish, the smaller clubs in turn formed larger associations or federations as they were often called, which rented waters and in turn made up the nucleus of the governing body, the NFA.
It was a relatively simple existence and one that as a young angler I was all too well aware of. I wanted to fish, and the easiest way was to join a club, in my case at work. This gave me a number of options, because the club was a large one, we had more than 2,500 members, we had waters of our own. It also offered me the opportunity to fish with mates from work in club matches, which took me to places I’d never heard of. These opportunities were further enhanced because our work’s club was a member of the local Federation, which in turn had access to extensive waters that members could fish. The Federation of course was a member of the NFA, which reportedly took care of any worries that we as anglers and members might face. In addition it also offered the chance, for those that wanted it, to fish in prestigious national competitions.
If I recall correctly the only pressure was on how much we would pay. No one else it seemed was interested in the framework upon which all this infrastructure hung. That framework of course being somewhere to fish, the fishery itself, which, at the time was almost exclusively based on rivers, drains and canals, most of which were owned and managed by someone else. Looking back and it today’s parlance, the situation was far from being sustainable, and as a result a number of changes were inevitable. It’s not possible to be exhaustive but access to cars reduced the dependence on club trips. Dick Walker among others promoted carp fishing which was to change the face of angling forever. From this came specimen fishing in the many forms we see it today. And the fisheries themselves were changing too. Much to angler’s delight some of the country’s dirtiest rivers began to be cleaned and hold fish. Others after something of a chequered history also began to change, and no where is this more noticeable than the Trent. Once devoid of fish it became a roach angler’s paradise consisting of a hot soup of sewage effluent, fuelled by power station outflows and the input from sewage treatment works. Older anglers will remember the famous out fall from Nottingham’s Stoke Bardolph works when it was impossible to see the river for detergent foam. Subsequently in the 90’s it became more famous when it became impossible to catch a fish in the river for many miles below it and anglers almost deserted the river. Today it’s a wildlife attraction and the river, which has changed beyond anyone’s comprehension, has become a big fish angler’s paradise.
Latterly of course came one of the biggest change’s of them all, commercial fisheries were born. Angling had changed forever and there was no going back.
During this period other changes occurred too. Anglers became more independent and today perhaps fewer coarse anglers than ever are members, either directly or indirectly, of their governing body the NFA. At national level other organisations were also established, the Anglers Conservation Association, ACA, the National Association of Fisheries and Angling Consultatives, and the Specimen Anglers Alliance for example, all attracted members with different or specific interests. Smaller groups, particularly specimen orientated also further fragmented angling representation. But perhaps most importantly fewer than half the angling population were members of any angling organisation, a situation that with the coming of the commercial ‘pay and play’ seems unlikely to change.
But these were not the only changes that were taking place, there were, and continue to be others, not associated with angling, but nevertheless as significant if not more so than those occurring in angling circles. More leisure time, cleaner rivers and environment, are bringing an increasing interest our rivers and waterways, once the preserve only of anglers, from all manner of people. More simply want to walk the banks, some to sail their boats, others to canoe, some want to watch birds and other wildlife. But the end result is that many more people want a say in what happens on these waterways, on how they are run and managed, and angling is often not to the front of their minds as demonstrated recently by the actions of the R.S.P.B. and Natural England on the Isle of Wight.
And these aren’t the only demands on the water in which we fish. Not long ago the country was in the grip of a drought. Reservoirs were empty, small streams which feed our rivers ran dry; water levels were at an all time low. And yet there is an increasing demand for water to drink, to wash with, to clean our cars, to water our golf courses and fields, to name but a few. All of these have a major impact on our rivers as fisheries.
This year was just the opposite, too much water, and already there are demands from all quarters for greater flood defences, for mechanisms to get all the water into the sea as fast as possible, and along with it many of our fish. Again such incidences and their consequences have a major effect on our fisheries.
And while we now have cleaner rivers than for hundreds of years we should not imagine that the this will always be so. Experiences on the Don in the last two years say that this isn’t the case. More people, more waste, gone is the heavy industry but that which replaced it is just as capable of destroying our river as any before it. One mistake and paradise is lost. It’s happening every week somewhere in the country and if we leave the fight for clean water to the walkers, boaters or bird watchers all will certainly be lost. But today diffuse pollution is becoming the major problem. Unlike oil and chemicals it can’t be seen and often takes time before it’s effects are noticed. The residues from birth control pills or sheep dip are excellent examples, and as farmers are once again pressed into producing more from the land others will follow.
But I can hear someone saying, as they have done before, that all this doesn’t matter, because we can go and fish commercial fisheries or private club waters. That might be fine if your only interests are match fishing for carp, or you’re unable to catch something unless it’s being starved into submission, or you are privileged to join some elite society. But again there are many pitfalls, least of all that many don’t want to fish in this way, and those that do today, may not tomorrow. And almost by definition these fisheries are in it for themselves, either individually or via their own associations and they do not, will not, or cannot speak for angling as a whole. But neither for that matter can any of the other organisations mentioned or omitted. That’s not a criticism, far from it, for each in it’s own way is working hard to look after angling and it’s interests, each has it’s own strengths, and weaknesses, and each is using whatever influence it has to best advantage.
The fact remains however that all these organisations are failing the sport as a whole. This is demonstrated by the numbers of anglers prepared to join them, for more probably don’t than do. As such they all either consciously or not try to preserve their own specific interests by continually trying to attract more to join their organisation at the cost to others. In short it is a crazy situation. To my mind angling faces more challenges today than at any time in its history and yet only half of the participants, or possibly less, are members of a representative body. Some of that is no doubt as a result of the enormous degree of fragmentation that exists in angling governance and the petty squabbling that results. The picture conjures up one of Nero and Rome.
The situation as far as the ordinary angler is concerned is however complicated, ineffective, and totally outdated. Times have changed and it is time to move with them. The government has made it clear that as far as they are concerned angling will not be seen as a major sport until it can get it’s house together under one roof. Angling needs a single, co-ordinated, well financed professional body to take up the take up the fight on its behalf and the sooner the better. Anglers who are members of any angling body need to encourage their leaders to be brave enough to make the change. Those that are not, and who frequently criticise those who do try, need to get on board. Surely if we give £24 or so to the Environment Agency each year simply to be able to fish, we can all afford to pay to be members of a unified angling which will look after, develop and defend all our interests. Make no mistake a body with somewhere between 1 and 4 million members would certainly make people stand up and take notice.
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March 7th, 2008 at 9:32 am
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